


Bad Reputation

by CosmicMerlyn



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) Fusion, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Angst, Dark Magic, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fake Dating, Fake Relationship, Fluff, Hogwarts, M/M, Rating May Change, Referenced Emotional Abuse, Reylo - Freeform, Slow Burn, Sort Of, final year at hogwarts, hand holding, lots of misunderstandings, referenced unhealthy relationship, seventh year hogwarts, transfer student finn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-07-05 12:52:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 31,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15864000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicMerlyn/pseuds/CosmicMerlyn
Summary: After his family move continents, Finn transfers from Ilvermorny to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in his final year. He quickly falls head over heels for one of his fellow students, Poe, only to find out that he can't date unless Poe's adopted sister, Rey, dates as well.That should be easy, only Rey has managed to get the nickname, 'the shrew' and isn't interested in dating anyone anytime soon. They have to find someone to date her, and their choice falls on the mysterious Ben Solo. What could go wrong?A Hogwarts Reylo & 10 Things I Hate About You // Taming of the Shrew AU.     Regular updates.





	1. The Transfer Student

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second Reylo fic and the combination of three of my favourite things: Star Wars, Hogwarts & 10 Things I Hate About You. This is my contribution to this amazing fandom!
> 
> I will hopefully be updating weekly- I have the first few chapters ready to go. At the moment this should be around 15-20 chapters long. We'll see how that goes! Kudos and comments mean the world!
> 
> Please come find me on tumblr! https://cosmic-merlyn.tumblr.com/

[ ](https://imgur.com/mc7vOtu)

### Chapter 1: The Transfer Student

The new school year brought a fresh wave across Hogwarts which wasn’t unlike any other September. The excited students had left London Kings Cross station hours ago to the chorus of parents and family members waving them off with teary goodbyes.The Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade station with Chewie, the groundskeeper, shouting for all of the First Years to follow him. He paused and took a letter out of his satchel. He let out a sigh and mopped his brow with it, “First Years, and Finn Bennet!”

The young man in question nearly dropped his satchel upon hearing his name. He looked around and then up at the impossibly tall and hairy man who was looking at him. Then Finn realised everyone else was staring too. He stammered some kind of reply until the man clapped him on the shoulder, “Don’t worry, everyone’s nervous on the first day.” Except, the first day for most Hogwarts students tended to be when they were eleven. As he walked towards the boats, he could see them gawping at him as though he was an exhibit in a museum.

“He’s enormous for a First Year.” Finn heard one blonde haired girl whisper to the boy next to her. Her companion only nodded, mouth ajar, not sure of what to make of him. Finn shifted uncomfortably, picking a boat near the back where he was sure he could avoid most of their stares for a while longer.

The truth was, Finn was not in first year. He was in fact about to enter his final year at school, except ironically it would be his first year at Hogwarts. He had been at Ilvermorny for the first six years of his schooling, but he’d never settled there and then his grandmother had insisted on moving them to some corner of the Scottish islands. So, he had transferred. It hadn’t been the easiest thing to do, the headmistress, Professor Holdo, had stressed how unusual it was when they’d sent an owl asking her about the possibility. Nevertheless, they'd relented and now he was here.

Finn had wanted to move for some time. He hadn’t liked the people he’d gone to school with at Ilvermorny. They’d been boring for the most part, ignored him for the other. No one had been interested in him; he wasn’t anything remarkable so he could hardly blame them. The owl which had his details about his transfer had also commented that given there was no clear trade in terms of houses at Ilvermorny and Hogwarts, he would have to simply be sorted. However, that meant doing so at the only sorting ceremony of the year, in front of the whole school and surrounded by First Years; wonderful.

Finn clutched his satchel to his chest as the castle came into view. It was magnificent and framed perfectly by the stars above it. Despite himself, he felt his heart pumping and a wave of calm settled his nerves. Just seeing the castle had made him think he’d made the right choice; he just had to survive the Sorting Ceremony, then he was sure that everything would be fine, or as fine as they could be.

When they alighted at the castle, Finn stood to the back of the First Years, letting them go first. He had already been sorted at Ilvermorny where he had been a proud Pukwudgie. However, these kids had never had this kind of thing happen to them before so he was happy to just let them go first and get caught up in all the excitement.

He scratched the back of his head as a small witch met them at the bottom of the stairs. He found himself staring; she could only have come up to his waist,

“Size isn’t everything.” She said and looked straight at Finn, readjusting her glasses which looked like jam jars; making her pupils look huge. “You must be Finn Bennet.” He nodded, “I am Professor Kanata, deputy headmistress of Hogwarts School, head of Hufflepuff house and Divination Teacher.” Finn blanched at her. She’d missed out the part about her being a legillimens, but perhaps she liked to keep them guessing in regards to that. “In a moment we'll go in so that the ceremony can begin. A break from tradition- Finn, you will go first and then the First Years will be sorted in alphabetical order.” Her lips formed into a tight smile and she led the way into the Great Hall.

If Finn had been impressed by the castle exterior, nothing could have prepared him for the Great Hall. The whole place was finely decorated, candles hovering over the tables and the whole place looked like something out of a fairytale. This was nothing like Ilvermorny, and he decided already that he was going to like it here. He could even ignore the looks he was getting and the hushed whispers,

“Isn’t he a little tall for a First Year?”

“I swear they just keep getting bigger every year.”

When they stopped just before the top table, Finn spied an old hat sat on a stool. Professor Kanata went towards it and held it up before unfurling a scroll which rolled past his left side. 

“We will now commence the sorting ceremony.” She cleared her throat, “Bennet, Finn.” He walked forwards, focusing on the far wall and so ignoring the looks he was getting. The stool was obviously meant for someone much smaller and he felt awkward almost clambering onto it, trying to stretch out his legs so his knees didn’t come too far up his body. The professor placed the hat on his head and he winced as though expecting to be attacked.

“Ah! An older student. My my, we have not had anyone like you for quite some time here at Hogwarts.” The hat drawled on and Finn had closed his eyes, realising a deathly silence had descended around the Great Hall. “Pukwudgie at Ilvermorny, well, they have their ways, they do have their ways.” He could hear the hat muttering to itself, “But I see a good, true loyal heart here, so it better be....Hufflepuff!” Finn released a breath he had not realised he had been holding and was guided to the edge of the Hufflepuff table where a smaller, dark haired student moved up to make room for him.

Apart from congratulations, no one spoke to him then until the headmistress had declared that the sorting ceremony had finished and allowed the feast to begin. Finn tucked in to his heart’s content, enjoying the typically English cuisines in front of him. He couldn’t get enough of it. When he came up for air after his second helping of cottage pie, the student who’d made room for him was gently smiling in his direction.

“Did they not feed you at Ilvermorny?” She chuckled and held out her hand, “I’m Rose Tico, I’m the one assigned to help new Hufflepuff's to get settled in.” She made a face, “Usually it’s just snotty first years, but at least this year I’ll have someone nearer my own age to help out.” 

Finn shook her hand,

“Good to meet you Rose.” He eventually said once he had set down his goblet. 

“We could start with a tour tomorrow if you’d like? Lessons don’t start until the end of the week so it could help you get settled in.” Rose paused, “I usually let some of the First Years work it out on their own seeing as they’re here for seven years, but I can make an exception for you.” She explained. Finn gave her a grateful look,

“Thank you, I think I’ll need all the help I can get.” He looked genuinely worried.

Rose snorted,

“Don't worry about it. You’ll feel like you’ve always been at Hogwarts by the time I’m finished with you.”

…..................................................................................

The courtyard was unusually busy, Rey observed, wrinkling her nose as she tucked her book under her arm. She had been hoping for a bit more of a respite; she and her adopted brother Poe had spent the last week at Hogwarts while their adopted mother, Maz Kanata, got set up and prepared for the new school year. Maz had adopted them when they were quite young; Rey had been first, Poe had followed a few years later, not long after his parents had died. She had taken on Maz's name but Poe had, understandably, kept his family name. Rey didn’t know much about her life been before she’d been adopted by Maz; her papers just said that she’d been found crying; alone in a pram in a park in the south of England. She had been a year old when that had happened; the only thing she had of her real parents was the blanket she’d been wrapped up in when the police had found her. It was something she still kept with her; silly really, but it was one of her few possessions.

Maz had arrived at the orphanage when she had been five; she remembered talking to her, telling her about the things she could make happen by accident. Rey’s first vivid memory was of magic. She had been in the garden of the orphanage alone, upset because one of the older boys had snatched her ball out of her hands and refused to give it back. They’d pushed her away and continued with their own games, calling her the most terrible things. Rey had cried all alone in the garden, having realised that crying in front of adults at the home never got her very far. It was then she noticed that she was no longer sat on plain grass, but amongst blooming daisies. They sprung up around her, stopping half a meter from where she was sat. Rey had imagined it to be the work of a Fairy Godmother or someone looking down on her; it was the first thing she’d told Maz about. The adoption papers had been filed the next week.

Rey walked to the furthest corner of the courtyard to find her peace. Out of the pair of them, Poe was definitely the one who found crowds and socialising more enjoyable. She tucked her head into her copy of Advance Potion Making as she pulled her blue and silver scarf around her neck. Rey only got to the first chapter, where debates on using pewter cauldrons were being discussed, before the book was yanked out of her grasp. She was up in a flash, reaching back from her book.  


"What the hell, Hux?” Her wand was out and he pulled a look at her, smirking. Rey rolled her eyes, “You know, I don’t think you’ll be able to make that out. They use big words in it, and there’s hardly any pictures, so it could be beyond you.” The smirk vanished from Hux’s face. He drew his wand

“Why you filthy mudblood!” Hux's words were hissed low enough that only she could hear them. However, that was enough for Rey. She launched herself at Hux, forgetting her wand completely as her fist collided with his cheek. He fell embarrassingly quickly and she recoiled back, like she had just realised what she had done for the first time, “You’re an animal, you know that, they should lock you up! You’re crazy!” Hux was shouting, scrambling to his feet with some of his fellow Slytherin’s helping him along the way. They too were jeering at Rey; one of them threw her book back in front of her. Rey stood quite alone; the students who had been milling around evaporated from view, pretending they hadn’t been watching.

“Miss Kanata-“ Rey rolled her eyes, hearing the voice of Gryffindor’s head of house, Professor Erso, booming at her, 

“I know, I know. Headmistresses office.” She grumbled and picked up her potions book. When she looked up, Poe was in front of her,

“Been practising on your aim then?” Poe laughed, trying to make light of it but the humour wasn’t met by Rey, “You said you were going to stay out of his way this term, Rey. I don’t like seeing you like this.” Poe was pleading with her now, tugging at the sleeve of her robes. Rey pulled away,

“What? Am I embarrassing you now?” Poe looked appalled at Rey's words,

“No, no that’s not what I meant and you know it.” Poe assured her but Rey couldn’t meet his eye, “I just...don’t get what your problem is with him.” That was enough for Rey who could feel herself seeing red,

“I’ve got to go.” She took off up the stairs, ignoring the fact everyone was staring. Everyone in fact, except a tall, dark haired Slytherin who had witnessed the whole thing and was still hiding himself away as he hadn’t stopped laughing at the expression on Hux’s face when the girl had attacked him.

…..................................................................................

Another pair who had witnessed the whole even was Rose and Finn, who were on the first part of the tour of Hogwarts. Rose was rolling her eyes, 

“Won’t be the first time you see that happening.” She wrinkled her nose, “Hux has too many encounters with the shrew.” Finn looked at her and the unusual term, Rose laughed, “You’ll see what I mean the more you see her. She’s like that with everyone; cold, sarcastic, you get the idea. Everyone calls her the shrew; you'll get used to it.” Finn didn’t press it any further but he watched 'the shrew’ Rey as she talked to a taller student and he felt his heart still in the same way it had when he had looked at the Hogwarts castle for the first time. 

“Who is that?” He managed, grabbing onto Rose's robes and forced her line of vision the same way Finn’s was inclined. Rose's smile dropped,

“No, no, don’t get any ideas, no.” She walked off in the opposite direction until she realised Finn wasn’t walking with her. Rose groaned and hurried back to her friend, “No, you see him dummy? He’s not for you, or anyone. He’s called Poe; he and the shrew are adopted siblings and Professor Kanata is their adopted mother.” Finn’s mouth dropped open at this new revelation and Rose nodded, “Maz also has this crazy rule that they’re not allowed to date until they leave school; everyone knows about it. So you know, hands off.” Regardless of all that he’d just been told, Finn couldn’t help but linger, watching Poe as he went.

"I've got to get to know him." Finn's words were said with a dreamy look. A part of him wanted to go up to Poe, but before he could take a step in his direction, Rose yanked him away. 

“You’ve got a death wish, dummy.”

…..................................................................................

Rey breathed out slowly, counting to ten as she leaned up against the wall of the headmistresses office. She had lost track of how many times she’d been sent up here over the years. Maybe the headmistress had too. 

“Come in!” She heard the shrill voice of the headmistress from around the portrait and walked in as sincerely as she could, “Ah Rey, well I wish I could say this was a surprise. Take a seat, dear.” Rey did as she was told, setting her book on her lap. “Now Rey, we really have to sort out this attitude of yours dear. Speaking to some of your teachers and classmates, I’ve come to the conclusion you can come off a little… um…”

“Tempestuous?” Rey suggested, unable to stop a grin forming,

“Heinous bitch is the term most readily used. Not my words of course, but I think we understand each other.” Holdo smiled sweetly as Rey slumped in her chair,

“He was asking for it.” Rey protested. 

Holdo looked over Rey seriously, taking a sip of her tea before setting it down carefully, 

“You might also be pleased to know that Mitaka’s boils settled down over the summer.” Holdo said as Rey snorted,

“I still maintain he hexed himself.” Rey held her hands up, like she was protesting innocence. Holdo all of a sudden looked much more concerned than she had previously,

“Look, Rey, you have one more year at Hogwarts. Please let’s try to make it an uneventful one. Don’t you think Maz deserves that too?” There was a hint of pleading in her gaze and eventually Rey nodded. “Good, good, I feel some progress has been made. You have a week’s worth of detentions, but other than that you can go.” Rey groaned,

“A week?” Holdo sat forwards, fingers lacing together,

“I’ll half it if you go and apologise to Hux.” 

Rey looked appalled,

“I’d rather you doubled it.” She said sharply. Holdo barely repressed a smirk as she gestured with the back of her hand,

“Report for detention later today, send the young man in behind the door too.” Rey nodded glumly at her words and stepped out, book in hand, walking straight into a dark haired Slytherin who was smirking at her. 

“She’s all yours.” Rey announced; she was still scowling. The Slytherin boy raised an eyebrow at her,

“You know if the wind changes, your face will stick like that.” He waggled a finger in front of her face. She gave him the middle finger,

“I didn’t ask for your opinion.” Rey tore off, leaving him stood there smirking before he pushed open the door to Holdo’s office,

“Ah Ben Solo, we have a lot to talk about, come and sit down.”

…..................................................................................

Rey wanted to scream but she couldn’t. She’d received a note from her Maz to meet her and Poe for dinner in her quarters before she headed up to her detention. She got rooms, being a teacher; Poe and Rey had a room and a bed there which they used mostly during the holidays. Rey had used it sometimes too during term time when the Ravenclaw dwellings had proven too much for her. Poe, on the other hand, was happy enough in Gryffindor, so much so that Maz complained she didn’t see enough of him during the term.

Sheepishly, Rey spoke the password to the portrait in front of Maz’s rooms, a lovely painting of a summer meadow with people having picnics. One of the women nodded at the correct words and opened the door for her. She stepped inside the portrait and was met with Maz’s cool gaze. 

“Rey, nice of you to join us. Make anyone cry today?” Maz asked, tilting her head,

“Well, yes, but only after four thirty. Most of the day was fine.” Rey grimaced. “Can we not do this now?” She pleaded as Maz shook her head, a wave of disappointment across her features, as she started to put out something for them to eat, from the smell of it they were being treated to a roast dinner.

“Rey we need to talk about this. You can’t just go around attacking random guys.” Poe pointed out, tucking into a roast potato. Rey shot her brother a glare,

“It wasn’t a random guy, it was Hux.” Rey fired back; Poe shook his head,

“I really don’t see the problem with him.” He quickly replied. 

Rey could barely speak. Maz took the moment to load her plate up with vegetables and gravy, watching the pair carefully. Having two children the same age in the house had never been easy but she’d coped over the years. The only thing she was really firm on them about was the no dating rule. She knew it seemed antiquated, but it was for their own good. Being a teacher here she had seen too many hearts broken and she didn’t want that for them. There was the other side of it too that she didn’t like all that much; they had to be protected, even if they didn’t realise it yet. Maz would do anything for the pair of them, as she had done all their life, even when they thought she was being painfully unfair. 

“Of course you don’t.” Rey finally found her composure, “Don’t think I haven’t seen the way you look at him.” Poe's cheeks flushed a little and Maz caught it, "Trust me, Hux isn't that way inclined." Rey said harshly.

“What’s she talking about?” Maz turned to Poe who rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair,

“Why is this all about me all of a sudden? Rey's the one who started a fight in the middle of the courtyard. All he did was take her book.” Rey wanted to scream that it wasn’t the only thing he’d done, but the words sounded pathetic even to her and they lodged in her throat. 

“Well, regardless of the way you might look at him Poe, you know the rule, no dating until after Hogwarts.” Maz said as she helped herself to more roast potatoes. Poe slumped in his chair again,

“This is ridiculous.” He huffed, though Rey remained silent. “It’s not as though I can get a date anyway, not with Rey scaring all the other students away. It's a miracle I even have friends.” Maz chewed on her broccoli thoughtfully, looking between the pair. She could see the look of disappointment on Poe's face and while she wasn’t one to just fall for that, there was a feeling in her gut she could not ignore.

“You know what, perhaps it is time for a change; you’re both a little older now.” Maz began. Poe sat up, as though he couldn’t believe his luck. Maz was sure this plan would prove fool proof anyway so she was willing to compromise a little, “New rule. Poe you can date whoever you want.” Rey’s mouth fell open and Poe stood up in excitement, punching the air in victory. Maz looked down the rim of her glasses at Poe, “When Rey does.” Poe looked as though the world had shattered around him,

“But-but she’ll never date anyone!” Maz beamed at Poe's revelation,

“Exactly. I’m starting to enjoy this new rule.” The rest of the meal was passed with Poe spurting out how unfair this all was and Rey remaining in total silence. She ate quickly then just before seven said goodbye to them both and headed up to Holdo for her detentions. It was tedious, mostly just cataloguing old issues of the Daily Prophet and dusting the expanse of the office without magic.

One of five completed.


	2. A Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey tries to stay out of Hux's way while Finn finds more ways to spend time with Poe. Meanwhile, Rose has words of warnings about the mysterious Ben Solo.

[](https://imgur.com/owsdKpw)

The first week at Hogwarts went quickly for Finn. He found the teachers nice enough, his classmates too, with the exception of Rey, were happy to help him out and buddy up with him when it came to group work and duelling. It was during activities like that he noticed that Rey tended to be at the back, away from everyone else, usually performing magic expected of a pair on her own or with the teacher. Finn couldn’t help but feel sorry for Rey, even if he knew that she didn’t want his pity. In fact, she’d made that perfectly clear she didn’t want his pity when he’d tried to bestow some on his third day. She’d told him that if he didn’t get out of her sight by the time she blinked, she’d have him coughing up toads for a week. Finn hadn’t doubted it; she was a talented witch even if she was an angry one, so he’d taken off without hesitation. Rose had laughed at him a lot when he had relayed the incident back to her.

By the following Monday, Finn had lost patience.

“What is her problem?” Finn asked Rose on their walk back to the castle. He had just overheard Rey’s questioning the ethics of keeping house elves to Chewie who, as well as being the groundskeeper, was also the Care of Magical Creatures teacher. By the end of her very well researched rant on the welfare of house elves and their work in magical households, the whole class was rolling their eyes and had switched off. Chewie had just told her to write a letter to the Daily Prophet if she felt that strongly about it. Rey hadn’t said much after that.

They sat down in the courtyard, as they had another hour to go until they were expected down in the potions classroom. That class was a mix between the higher achieving of each house, as it was how the potions master, Snoke, liked to keep it in his NEWT classes. 

The September weather was being particularly kind to them this year; it was still warm enough to sit outside without having to cast any enchantments or grab extra blankets from the common room. Rose always preferred the outdoors anyway; she excelled at Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. Therefore, she spent most of her time, hail, rain or sunshine, out in the grounds, helping to tend to the different creatures or the plants in the Greenhouse.

“That is a question many people have sought the answer to.” Rose laughed but shrugged a moment later. “In any case I’ve got no idea. She was never like this when we were younger, then something changed a couple of years ago and now she is the grumpiest Ravenclaw ever to have set foot in Hogwarts.” Finn still felt uneasy about it and Rose nudged his shoulder, “Why are we talking about her anyway? I thought it was her brother you were interested in.” Rose pointed out as Poe walked past them, laughing and joking with his Quiddich teammates. Poe was the best chaser Gryffindor had recruited on their team for a century. There were rumours that he was going to be signed up by a professional team after their last year. 

To Finn, even Poe’s way of walking was enchanting and he couldn’t help but let his thoughts be pulled in his direction. Whatever Rose said next was completely lost on Finn as his gaze followed Poe until he disappeared inside the castle. “Earth to Finn? Come in Finn!” Rose knocked her fist against the top of Finn’s skull.

“Hey!” Finn exclaimed.

“Oh, so you are still in there.” Rose laughed while Finn rubbed the top of his head..

“That hurt you know.” He then stood up with a renewed sense of urgency about his features. “I’ve got to find a way to spend more time with him. Does she even know who I am?” Finn asked Rose who shrugged; Hufflepuff’s didn’t spend much lesson time with Gryffindors, the timetable had them paired with Ravenclaw for the most part and Slytherin for the other. The sides of Rose’s mouth twitched and she looked around to make sure they weren’t being overheard before clearing her throat.

“I might have a solution for you; I overheard something the other day. Turns out he’s got the looks but not the brains- he’s looking for a charms tutor in order to improve on his grade from last year. He bombed in our end of year exams and he wants to go on to further study, so he needs the grades.” Finn gawped at Rose's words and nodded enthusiastically,

“That’s perfect! Rose, you’re a genius!” He exclaimed; Rose raised an eyebrow,

“You’re good at charms then?” 

“I passed, if that’s what you mean.”

“It’s not, but okay. I believe in you, dummy.” Rose beamed and clapped Finn’s shoulder and lay back against the side of the courtyard, closing her eyes as Finn launched into a description of how amazing Poe was and how he was going to go and brush up on his charms work that very night.

\--------------------------

It was the first time they’d been in the potions class, with this mix of students. Most of the students groaned under their breath when they saw Rey walk in. She acted like she hadn’t noticed, though Finn wasn’t sure how she couldn’t have. An alarming amount of bags found themselves on spare stools and Rey instead slid onto a stool near the front of the room on a table by herself, holding her head high as though she’d planned it that way.

Finn looked aimlessly around the room, observing the potion bottles on the wall and the different plants which seemed to be growing despite the lack of natural light down here. It was the darkest classroom he’d been in so far; there was an eerie sound of dripping water coming from somewhere which made him feel uneasy. The classroom was cramped with desks in the centre, as the outer edges were taken up by ingredients and potion bottles. Finn wondered whether this room was ever actually designed for students at all. Humming to himself as he continued to observe the odd classroom, he noticed someone unfamiliar in the room with them, wearing emerald green trimmed robes and dark messy hair which covered and framed the outline of his face. Finn nudged Rose,

“Who’s that?” Rose saw who he was looking at and pulled her friend back round to look at the front, 

“Don’t look him in the eye-“ Finn gave her a look, “No, I’m serious, he’s bad news. His name is Ben Solo- used to come here but got kicked out a couple of years back. They only let him back in this year. His mother is in the ministry so I think it’s a favour to her.” Finn did look slightly afraid now,

“What did he get kicked out for?” Finn asked. Rose shrugged,

“Rumour has it he was a little too into dark magic. I’m talking really dark stuff here Finn; there were rumours he was in some kind of fight. Really nasty.” Rose drew breath, stealing a look at the Slytherin again before dropping her voice a notch lower, “Apparently he used to hunt muggles during his summer breaks; ministry had to hush it all up.” She paused, looking over her shoulder again to check she wasn’t being overheard, “But he’s really bad news Finn; completely unhinged. I even heard he ate a live niffler once too.” 

“That’s disgusting.” Finn grimaced.

Rose hummed, “Mmm, they said the only thing that was left was the claws and the bill.” She gestured to her nose, making a sign representing a bill with her hands as best she could. Finn looked over his shoulder at Ben Solo who, like Rey, was sat by himself with a good distance between him and the other students. He was holding his wand upwards, muttering incantations and giving it a small shake. Finn shuddered, wondering if he was practising dark magic right in front of them. Surely he wouldn’t be that stupid, in the middle of a lesson? “Prefers his own company I think, best just not speak to him. Ever.” Rose looked at Finn, “I’m serious-”

Rose's words about Ben Solo were cut off as Professor Snoke strode into the dungeons, slamming the door shut behind them. The potion bottles on the wall rattled. Finn gawped a little at the potions master, who had pasty white skin and looked as though at some point he’d taken a curse to the face, with one eye a little higher than the other and scars over one of his cheeks. “For the love of Merlin, don’t stare.” Rose breathed, pretending to write down some notes as she nudged Finn’s side, hard.

\--------------------------

At least her week of detentions was up. Rey sat in the front corner of the potions classroom with her annotated copy of Advance Potions, listening as Snoke gave his instructions. The headmistress had allowed her some time during detentions to continue reading her book and finish her pre-requisite work for the year. She was determined to outdo her potions performance last year. She still maintained that Snoke had purposefully found reasons to mark her down.

Snoke was going on with his usual drabble about greatness and potential and the perils of wasting such talents. Rey had to stop herself from rolling her eyes; she loved potions but she hated Snoke. There was something about him which made her skin crawl. He was always friendlier with the Slytherin students, though there were only a handful of them in this class. Fortunately enough for her, Hux hadn’t made the grade to get into this particular class, so she didn’t have any tests on her temper at the moment; instead she could just focus on her work.

So far she had been keeping her promise to Maz. She had mostly done so by avoiding the other students in her class and turning the other way whenever she spotted a spec of red hair on the corridor. Rey had spent the majority of her spare time in the library and had always returned after she knew the girls in her dorm would already be asleep; it was easier that way.

When the class was dismissed, Rey was the last to go, following the tall, dark haired student out. She scrunched up her face as he paused on the steps out of the potions classroom. “Move it.” She demanded. He looked around as though he were shocked anyone had been there at all. Silently he moved to the side though she couldn’t help but feel annoyed at the way he was grinning at her. This had to be Ben Solo of course; she’d heard he was coming back to Hogwarts but hadn’t given it much thought. She hadn’t recognised him the other day, but now she regarded him again she was surprised she hadn’t noticed him before.

“The pleasure is all mine.” Ben said. Rey rolled her eyes,

“In your dreams.” She made sure to hit his shoulder hard with her own as she walked past him up the stairs. Rey only made a grimace in pain when she was sure she was out of his line of vision.

“Hopefully, sunshine!” He called up the stairs at her. Rey fired a hex over her shoulder in response.

\--------------------------

Finn waited until Poe looked like he was finished eating to make his move. The mentioned tutoring position was really too good an opportunity to pass up and he knew that. Rose had gawped at him at first, asking if he was going to finish his desert, before she realised what her friend was up to.

“Your funeral!” Rose muttered loudly after Finn who was making an effort to walk quickly to keep up with Poe without looking as though he was the person he was after. Rose’s gaze lingered on her friend, huffing before she went back to eating, chewing a little more furiously than she had done before. Finn was sure he could make this work; maybe Rose had just been exaggerating about the rule Maz had for Poe and Rey. 

“Oh hey!” Finn said, just about missing walking straight into Poe. He gave him an odd look,

“Do I know you?” Finn shook his head, “Oh no wait, you’re the transfer student.” He identified, smiling at him, “I’m Poe Dameron.” Finn took the hand he offered him and grinned at him,

“Yes, I know who you are.” Poe looked suspicious and he held his hands up a little put out, “No, no its nothing bad. It’s just, I heard you were looking for a charms tutor.” Poe furrowed his brow,

“So, what, you’re offering to be my tutor?” He probed,

“No, I mean yes. Yes, if you’ll have me.” Finn grimaced, “Let me, that’s what I mean. I can tutor you yes, we did charms all the time at Ilvermorny. It was like my speciality.” Poe considered him for a moment then turned a little away from him.

“Why are you offering to help me?” Finn looked a little confused at that,

“Just trying to fit in.” He gave her what he hoped would be a winning smile, leaning up against the side of the wall leading into the Great Hall. Poe looked him up and down. At that moment, the Slytherin who’d been attacked in the courtyard last week by Rey walked up beside them both. 

“Oh, hi Hux.” Poe said, his face visibly lighting up at the sight of him. Hux didn’t acknowledge Poe; he was staring at Finn.

“Is the new kid bothering you?” Hux asked, his eyes never leaving Finn’s.

“No, it’s fine, Hux.” Poe shook his head and smiled up at Hux. The ginger haired student gave Finn another look before heading out in the other direction. Finn couldn’t help but notice how Poe watched Hux leave with a little rouge in his cheeks.

A few moments silence passed.

“So, tutoring?” Finn finally prompted, looking hopefully at Poe. He blinked, like he’d been awakened from a dream and looked back at him.

“Oh yes, I’d be grateful of the help. When can you start?” Poe asked, 

“How about tomorrow, after dinner?” 

“Sure, I’ll meet you in the library before Quiddich practice.” With that, he took off in the direction of the Gryffindor common room. Poe never saw Finn punch the air, though Rose did as she crossed out of the Great Hall.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, genius.” Rose crossed her arms over her chest,

“Rose, it’s perfect, we’ll just get to spend some time with each other.” Rose let her arms fall to the side,

“Take it you’re ignoring my information about the shrew.” Rose's voice was a little sing song but the expression didn't match her eyes.

“I can’t believe Professor Katana is that strict.” 

“Like I said, your funeral, dummy.”

\--------------------------

Rey was mildly surprised she hadn’t received another string of detentions for the hex she’d fired after potions class. Either she’d missed very badly or Ben Solo didn’t want to admit he’d been hexed by her. She suspected the latter as she knew she was a good shot. Rey crossed the bottom of the stairs by the Great Hall, passing by Hux and some of his friends. They stood in her way, physically blocking her exit.

“Get out of my way, Hux.” She said calmly, refusing to meet his gaze. Hux chuckled, his friends following suit. He reached out and brushed some hair off her shoulder; she physically recoiled and drew out her wand, “I said get out of my way.” Hux held his hands up,

“My my, you are touchy today Rey.” He smirked, “But what changes, hmm?” She was still refusing to look at him so he took her cheek in his finger and thumb and forced her gaze his way, “I asked you a question.” He was hissing now and though Rey could feel fury she knew rationally what she could not do. She had made a promise to Holdo.

Rational minds only went so far.

Rey spat at Hux, grasping her wand as he released her. By the time Hux had wiped his face, his friends had stepped back from him, fearing what might come next. Rey was long gone, tearing off down the corridor searching for somewhere to hide. As she heard footsteps behind her, she saw a door appear at her right that she could have sworn wasn’t there before. Not thinking, she opened it and threw the door shut, hard, behind her, breathing heavily.

 _”She can’t have got far!”_ Rey could hear Hux and his men from behind the door but they ran straight past it. She released a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been carrying and put her forehead against the door. She couldn’t stay in here forever. Rey stole a glance backwards before she went to leave and stilled. What she had been expecting was a store cupboard. What she hadn’t been expecting was a room looking like some kind of treasure trove. The room ran high with all manner of historical magical artefacts around. She wondered if this was the Room of Requirement; she had read about it Hogwarts A History but had never been completely convinced.

Somewhere, the change of lesson bell signalled and she was pulled from her observations as she bolted to the exit. Her adopted mother would never forgive her for being late to her own class.

\--------------------------

The Divination classroom was up at the top of one of the tallest towers in Hogwarts. This, like potions, was a mixture of different houses as it wasn’t a popular option. Rose had picked it out of interest, though she didn’t believe in half the things Maz told them. Finn had tagged along to the class; he didn’t have to take it, but it saved him being bored alone downstairs for an hour. Plus, Rose had told him that Poe took this particular subject. Finn spied him straight away at the back of the classroom with some fellow Gryffindors, some of the ornaments set up on the table in front of them.

Finn’s brows raised and he nudged Rose,

“What are they doing?” He asked. Rose watched them idly for a moment,

“Just talking about Quiddich tactics I expect. It’s what they usually do.” Rose rolled her eyes, “Eyes front, lover boy, remember that his adopted mother teaches this class.” Finn nodded and complied after a couple of moments, “You still going to tutor him later?” Rose looked somewhat concerned,

“Why wouldn’t I?” He asked calmly. 

Rose shrugged her shoulders, "Just thought you’d come to your senses. You know that rule.” Rose muttered as she started unpacking her bag for the class. The pair watched then as Rey stormed into the classroom, knocking over the crystal ball of another Hufflepuff as she walked over to the corner of the room where she usually took up residence. However, there was someone already sat there; the look of surprise was evident on Rey Katana’s face as she gawped at the large, dark haired Slytherin sat there. Ben Solo just stared up at her, there was an awkward moment of silence. Even Finn knew by now that Rey's place was always at the front of the room in the corner, so either Ben Solo was stupid or he'd done it on purpose. By the look on her face, Rey had decided which one she thought he was.

“What is this, asshole day?” Rey exclaimed and then took off, heading to an unoccupied table on the other side of the classroom. The room had gone quiet around them but Rey stared determinedly at her book. Finn watched the scene with a curious look,

“Well at least she’s not bothered about Maz’s rule.” Finn despaired. Rose snorted.

“The shrew doesn’t need a reason to not date. Can you imagine any sane person wanting to date her?” Finn watched the furious expression on Rey’s face and found himself shaking his head.

“No.”


	3. Striking A Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn tries to find someone to date Rey so that he can take out Poe. His choice, despite Rose's warnings, is Ben Solo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for so many kind comments and kudos! Surprise mid week update :D

[](https://imgur.com/KJUwfLF)

“Can we make this quick? I’ve got Qudditch practice to be at.” Poe said as he said down next to Finn in the library. Finn looked up at Poe and for a moment, words escaped him. He’d been here for over half an hour waiting for him. Sure, most of that had been making sure he was here extra early so that he wasn’t keeping Poe waiting, but he was still surprised at how quickly Poe wanted to go through the session.

“Um, sure.” Finn had a couple of charms books open, “What did you want to start with?” 

Poe hummed, flicking through the pages, “Well, I failed badly on colour changing spells. I was supposed to turn a writing desk into dark red and I turned it into yellow instead.” Poe explained. 

Finn snorted but stopped when Poe looked a little hurt,

“At least it’s on the right colour spectrum.” Sort of. Charms didn’t work like that but from the expression on Poe’s face, he was obviously none the wiser.

“So colour changing spells.” Poe confirmed. Finn flipped through a couple of the books,

“Well let’s start off with something small.” Over their session, he showed Poe spells and pronunciation to practice turning book jackets different colours. He had brought his own books for Poe to practice on. Rose had told him a story of Poe setting fire to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom in their fourth year, so he didn’t want him wrecking any of the library books. He didn’t feel that confident in his new school yet. However, if he charred a couple of his old Illvermorny text books, it wasn’t the end of the world.

Poe practised the spells with varying degrees of success. Finn was secretly pleased he didn’t progress too quickly. “Same time next week?” He asked Poe, who was trying to get out of his seat quickly as the clock neared seven.

“Mmhmm.” Finn was getting out of his seat just as quickly,

“Well, uh, I’ll walk with you.” Finn offered; Poe looked shocked but agreed, slinging his kit bag over his shoulder.

“How are you finding Hogwarts?” Poe asked after they left the library.

“I love it. The castle is amazing.” Finn smiled and Poe looked proud at that. There was a moments pause, only prevented from being complete silence by the ghost of the Bloody Baron roaming about the halls. Finn cleared his throat, “I heard Professor Katana is your adopted mom.” The Gryffindor nodded,

“Yep. Been that way for years. Makes it harder to think of excuses why you’re failing the class when your mother is the teacher.” Poe smirked and continued walking. “So you’ll also know Rey’s my sister, right?” He looked at him, as though watching carefully for his reaction. Finn couldn’t hide the little exasperated look he gave,

“How is that?” Poe snorted,

“She’s not as bad as everyone makes out. She’s a bit stubborn but she has a great heart.” He sounded proud, but his expression changed in a moment and he looked Finn up and down, “Wait, you’re not interested in her, are you?” He sounded like he was choking back a laugh. Finn looked mortified.

“Pass. She’s not my type, if you get what I mean.” He threw Poe what he hoped was a winning smile; the other student acknowledged as his lips formed a rounded shape. “She can’t date anyone anyway, can she? Someone told me about the rule Professor Katana has for both of you.” 

Poe was now rolling his eyes, “Stupid rule.” He looked furious at it, but then stopped in his tracks as they rounded a corridor, “Though she did change it- I can date now whenever Rey lands a date.”

Somehow, Finn felt as though there must have been someone looking down on him and smiling at this revelation. It was as though the universe was throwing him this golden opportunity and he had to find a way to seize it with both hands.

“So as soon as Rey finds a date, you can date whoever you want?” Finn asked, barely believing his luck. Poe shrugged,

“I guess so, but there’s no point in getting my hopes up. Merlin’s beard, who would want to date Rey?” That was true enough. They walked in silence for a few moments before an idea popped into Finn’s head, which was so crazy it might just work.

“What about if I knew someone who could take her out, or at least try? Would that help you? People try impossible things all the time you know.” Finn pointed out hopefully; Poe cast him a look,

“You really think you know someone crazy enough who’d want to take out my sister?” Poe seemed incredibly sceptical and Finn grimaced a little,

“I think I might know the only student at Hogwarts who might stand a chance.” Poe gave him a funny look. Finn was about to pipe up again but he was interrupted loudly by Poe’s teammates who arrived from the corridor on the left and dragged their chaser with them down towards the field,

“See you soon, Finn!” Poe shouted over his shoulder. Finn was too full of his own good idea to feel sorry the exchange had been cut short. He ran all the way back to the Hufflepuff common room.

……………

Rose paced for the fifth time in front of the fire in the Hufflepuff Common Room. Finn looked very pleased with himself, but Rose looked like she’d just swallowed a pixie whole.

“You can’t be serious, Finn.” Finn wasn’t disheartened in the slightest, despite the way that Rose was looking at him.

“Completely serious- it’s perfect, think about it. How could this not go well?” He was practically bouncing from foot to foot but Rose still didn’t look convinced.

“So, your plan, because Poe can’t date without Rey dating, is to persuade Ben Solo.” She held both her hands up, “Dark arts, muggle hunting, niffler eating, Ben Solo, to take out Rey so that you can then date Poe.” 

“Exactly!” 

Rose looked as though he’d just spilled pumpkin juice down her front,

“Finn! Think about this. How, in the name of Merlin, are we going to get Ben Solo to take out Rey? I told you he’s bad news, we shouldn’t even be considering talking to him!” Finn’s face fell a little,

“Okay well I hadn’t got that far yet.” Rose put her hands over her face and groaned loudly, “I don’t know, maybe I can offer to do his homework all year or we could pay him?” 

“Are we just paying him for one date?” Rose asked, peeking through her fingers,

“I suppose so? One date, which would then mean I can ask out Poe at the same time.” Finn was speaking a little quicker. Rose slowly came out from behind her hands.

“Okay, right, pay him or bribe him for one date with Rey.” She was slowly coming round to the idea. “But we have to convince him first.” Finn looked surprised at Rose's words.

“We?” 

“Yeah, I’m not letting you do this by yourself, dummy.” She poked a finger in his direction. “We just need to work out a way to get Ben to take out Rey so you can make a move on lover boy.” Finn looked incredibly pleased with this turn of events.

“Let’s get to work.”

……………

Being in seventh year came with some advantages; sometimes they had free lessons where they were supposed to catch up on work. However, it was the start of the year, so even the laziest students weren’t too behind just yet. That morning was when Rose and Finn wanted to start their plan. They knew Ben Solo usually came into breakfast last and ate alone, by the time he arrived that morning, there were only a handful of students who were left in the Great Hall and one or two teachers overseeing things.

Rose nudged Finn as the last couple of Slytherin’s left, leaving Ben Solo alone at the end of his row. 

“Go, now!” She hissed at him. Finn looked dumbfounded for a few moments and grabbed her arm, dragging her up and along with him. Rose made a squeak of protest and shoved the last of her toast into her mouth as they approached where Ben Solo was eating his breakfast alone. He barely acknowledged them both as they stood in front of him.

“Are you lost?” Ben asked after a couple of awkward moments. 

Finn let out a nervous laugh and shook his head and his hands. “No, no.” 

“Is that grilled niffler?” Rose asked with a squeak as she looked down at Ben’s plate; it had some kind of meat on it. He looked at his meal then at Rose as though she was speaking a different language,

“What?” Ben snapped; Rose looked flustered,

“N-nevermind.” She stammered. Finn groaned, 

“Ignore her. Look, sorry for bothering you but we have a bit of a business proposal to put to you.” For the first time, Ben looked interested. “You see her?” Finn pointed to Rey; she was hard to miss. She was in the middle of the Ravenclaw benches reading a potions book whilst finishing off some crumpets. Ben followed the line he was tracing with his finger and sat up a little,

“Yeah?” Ben shrugged and Finn took a quick, sharp breath,

“I’d like you to ask her out on a date.” There was an awkward pause before Ben burst out laughing.

“Yeah, right. Maybe next we’ll all hold hands while Snoke throws us a tea party, accompanied by a herd of wild Hippogriff. Both are as likely.“ Finn grimaced but was undeterred.

“Look, here’s how it is. I can’t ask out her brother until she dates someone- you know Professor Katana, right? She has some rule for them both- Poe can date when Rey does but not before.” Finn felt like he was making his case as well as he could. Ben still looked incredibly amused and sat back a little, rapping his knuckles off the wood of the table. 

“This is all… moving.” Ben drawled and grinned, “And incredibly funny, but it’s also not my problem?” He went to go back to his breakfast but Finn sat down opposite him now and put his hand out, stopping Ben from continuing to eat. The Slytherin looked him up and down and Finn leapt quickly at his pause,

“Look, I’d be willing to pay for whatever cost it is, say buy the butterbeers or I’ll even do your homework or whatever you want. I’m really good at charms-“ At Finn's words, Rose badly disguised her laugh into a snort, “But I’m serious about this, and you’re probably the only person who can do this.” Finn held out his hands and looked as pleading as he could. Ben raised an eyebrow then looked around Finn to where Rey was sat by herself.

“So you’re just going to pay me to take Rey out on one date? What? To Hogsmeade or something?” Ben asked, taking a sip of his coffee. The trio looked to where the Ravenclaw was sat by herself, still reading over some potion theories.

“Whatever you want. I’ll make sure that you get enough money for it, and then some.” Finn began feeling a little more hopeful as Ben looked like he was considering it and then he started to laugh.

“Can’t be that hard. Why the hell not; you have yourselves a deal. One date.” Finn looked visibly relieved and held out his hand for Ben to shake. Ben stared at him hard but didn’t take his hand. Finn retracted it and stood up, stumbling back a bit, taking Rose with him. 

“Let us know when the happy day is!” Finn said, as they backed up out of the Great Hall. Finn grabbed hold of Rose who had her head in her hands, “You seriously asked him if he was eating grilled niffler?” Rose squeaked,

“I panicked, alright! Look, it doesn’t matter anyway- looks like you got what you wanted.” Finn cast a look back into the Great Hall.

“Yeah, that’s if Solo can convince the shrew to go out on a date.” He looked a little less optimistic than before; Rose matched his expression.

“Yeah. What could go wrong with that?”

……………

Rey had taken a morning cup of tea with Maz and had managed to get into the Great Hall before they’d cleaned up from breakfast. She didn’t have a lesson until second so she could afford to be a little more leisurely today. Plus, going at this time meant that she didn’t run into half as many people. One glance in the hall had told her that she had also missed seeing Hux this morning too.

She’d enchanted her book so it levitated over her morning crumpets and she was reading over a chapter which debated how long particular ingredients could be stored and where they should be stored. Somehow she couldn’t imagine Snoke being happy with her if she pointed out that if he kept some of his ingredients at a higher altitude would make them more potent and last longer. He barely paid her any attention anyway; maybe she’d mention it towards the end of the year when she had nothing to lose. 

The last few students were filing out from breakfast; she was one of the only Ravenclaws left in the Great Hall. It was probably better that way; they didn’t want anything to do with her and she had similar feelings to them. 

She was midway through her page when it was pulled down, replaced by Ben Solo’s grinning face. Rey stared at him, until she realised what he’d done.

“What the hell do you want?” She demanded, snatching her book back over the table.

“Good morning to you too.” 

Rey rolled her eyes, “Are you deaf?”

“Ben Solo.” He held out his hand over the assortment of breakfast treats. Rey looked at it and both her hands found their way under the table.

“Go away.” Rey went back to her book. Ben tilted his head,

“That’s an odd name.” Rey rolled her eyes,

“I know who you are, Ben Solo. Go away.” 

“I know who you are too, Rey Katana.” She looked as equally unimpressed at his appraisal,

“And? That doesn’t mean I have to talk to you.” Rey pointed out and stood up and Ben did at the same time, keeping step with her as she walked towards the exit.

“Look, we probably got off on the wrong foot. How about I make it up to you?” Rey stopped at that and just looked at Ben with a confused look across her features. By this point they were feet away from the exit to the Great Hall, “You, me, Hogsmeade?” He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, giving what he hoped was a winning smile. Rey stepped up to him, smirking as she did and leaned up a bit. Ben inched a little forwards, wanting to close the gap. At the last second, Rey whispered into his ear,

“I hope you get eaten by the Giant Squid.” She then tore off out of the Great Hall, nearly colliding with Rose and Finn who had been watching the scene from a distance. When Rey was out of earshot, Rose and Finn looked to each other, then to Ben Solo who seemed as though he wasn’t sure whether to fly into a rage or fall over laughing.

“We’re going to need some help with this.” Rose said then as Ben scratched the back of his neck, acting like nothing had happened as he walked past them both, heading in the opposite direction to Rey.

“We’re screwed.” Finn said, groaning. Rose rolled her eyes,

“Hey, I don’t want to hear that kind of defeatist thinking.” Finn looked around at her,

“We’re screwed!” This time he said it in a happier sing song voice and looked cheerful enough. 

“That’s more like it, dummy.” Rose considered the scene for a moment, “We need inside information.” She then declared and she rubbed her hands together as they walked off towards class. Finn was left wondering if he had created a monster.

……………

Rey spent the rest of her free time that day making sure that she couldn’t be found. Some of the other students, she supposed who were scared of Hux, had taken to calling out her blood status whenever they could. Rey had gathered from her adoption papers, as well as Maz’s research, that she was muggle born- her parents had both been unemployed and had died not long after abandoning her in the park. Neither had attended Hogwarts or any other school as far as she could tell. Maz had suggested at one point they could be Squibs, but Rey hadn’t cared that much about it.

However, that kind of thing actually seemed to matter to people here. Rey couldn’t have cared less if someone was pure blood, muggle born or had a muggle father and a witch for a mother. None of it mattered to her so she struggled with it mattering to others. In the last few years she felt like it had gotten worse; the prejudice as well as the malice she felt towards her. It wasn’t helped by other things, but it was one of the reasons she kept herself to herself. It was easier that way. She didn’t want to go running to the teachers every time someone called out her blood status; she could handle herself; she didn’t need Holdo or anyone else fighting her battles for her.

As Rey looked up over the dark courtyard, having hidden herself away, she could see a couple of hooded figures moving away from the castle. There was one larger, then a few smaller, though not by much. It was too late to be going for walks; she was edging closer to the curfew and so anyone else out and about now was definitely breaking it. Part of Rey wanted to follow them, but she knew she couldn’t; she couldn’t risk getting in trouble again. Rey therefore stayed silent, pressed up against the shadows until they passed on and she could return to the castle without being spotted again.

She wasn’t aware, until she got back to the Ravenclaw common room, how cold she felt and how hard her heart was now beating. There was the hum of the last few students up, cramming for tests or last minute homework. She got a few looks as she entered the Common Room.

Sometimes, Rey hated how they looked at her. Some looked at her with sympathy, others just treated her with the same cool indifference she treated them with. Rey felt awkward for a moment and went past them all towards the back of the common room so she could sit by herself, looking out over the castle, hugging her knees to her chest. Her personal business was hers; she didn’t need their sympathy or their looks. 

As much as she didn’t want Ben Solo in her thoughts, given he was the only person she’d spoken to properly today, aside from Maz. Even though she had told him she hoped he got eaten by the Giant Squid. She ran both hands through her hair and groaned inwardly. Maybe next time she could just hex him so that he spoke entirely in hippogriff. That was, if there was a next time. Hopefully Ben Solo would leave her well enough alone, and then she could go back to getting through this year in one piece.


	4. Pixies and warnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn gets some inside information while Ben tries to charm Rey in his own way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all the lovely readers and those who took time to comment on my first three chapters! It is very much appreciated!

[ ](https://imgur.com/KJUwfLF)

Rey felt like she was being stalked. Last week she couldn’t have cared less about Ben Solo, or how much she encountered him on the hallway or in their lessons. Now she felt like she was purposefully getting in her way. Every time she left the Great Hall he left at the same time; he made a point of walking slowly out of the shared classes and now, no matter what time she went to the library, he was always there.

He didn’t seem to want to annoy her until he noticed she was there, as though that hadn’t been his purpose in being there in the first place. It was starting to grate on her nerves. Rey had taken to getting her books as quickly as possible then sneaking off to find some corner of the library to read in. 

“This is where you’re hiding?” Ben's voice made Rey’s head snapped up and she met his eyes with a quiet intensity. He was smirking.

“Go away,” Rey instructed, not dropping his gaze. Ben looked at the book she was holding,

“I could help you with that.”

“I don’t need your help, Solo.” Ben shrugged,

“The offer still stands, sweetheart.” Rey’s cheeks flushed red,

“Stop calling me that,” Rey demanded, though he was still smirking and he leaned down a little,

“No.” Ben said, after a moments pause, winking as he returned to his own work. Rey took a moment before storming out of the library.

During their Divination lesson, Finn was about to lean over to speak to Ben about how things were going with Rey. At that moment, he received his answer when Rey loudly compared all men to Flobberworms and caused her crystal ball to start shaking furiously as she tried to see into in as she channelled her emotions to the magical object. Inside Rey's ball, Finn could spy all kinds of odd shapes and colours, none of which looked like they were matching up. Rey couldn’t control her temper in those moments and she slammed her fist on the table. The ball was shaking so much that the added pressure from her fist on the table caused it to roll off its stand, over the edge of the wooden table and shattered on the floor.

Maz had begrudgingly given her a detention to clear it up. Finn had felt gloomy about the whole business after that. Rose had tried to be the voice of optimism, though even Ben Solo had seemed a little unsure about the events in the classroom.

……………

Finn knew he was running out of ideas. It didn’t look like Ben was making progress with Rey if the Divination lesson was anything to go by; arguably, things were worse. Even Rose, who at the moment was the more optimistic of the two, was struggling to come up with ideas.

“How am I supposed to know what she likes?” Rose finally spluttered, “She’s not like normal girls, Finn, I did try to explain that to you.” Finn groaned,

“Come on Rose, there’s got to be something- she can’t have been this moody since first year.” Rose shrugged, wrinkling her nose as she willed the memory of a younger version of Rey into her mind.

“I don’t know, I didn’t really know her before she got all moody. She was always nice enough, never heard much of her. However, then something changed last year, now everyone knows who she is and not in a good way.” Rose sounded exasperated.

“What changed?” Rose shrugged,

“Beats me. I told you I didn’t know Finn- but I do have an idea.” He finally looked a little more hopeful, “We need inside information right, so why don’t you ask Poe about it?” 

“What, just casually bring up in conversation, ‘hey, know anyway to help Ben Solo woo your sister so we can date?’” He raised an eyebrow at Rose who crossed her arms over her chest,

“I’m sure you can work out a better way to broach it with him, Finn.” She reasonably pointed out, “Plus, he’s probably the only one apart from Maz who would have any idea how to get close to her or what she’s even interested in.” Finn worried his bottom lip and leaned back in his chair, considering her words, “Unless you’ve got another plan?” 

Shaking his head, Finn stood up. He had tutoring with Poe in another hour.

“I’ll ask him.”

………….

It was a good thing there was no one else in the library; Poe’s laughs would have annoyed them and got them kicked out. The laugh was certainly annoying Finn. When he had stopped laughing he looked at Finn as though he had another head,

“Oh, you’re serious? Ben Solo and my sister?” Finn gave Poe a look which stopped the expression on his face, “I can’t believe you’re serious.”

“I don’t know what you’re finding so difficult about this- it makes total sense.” Finn was trying to sound reasonably but Poe was still laughing,

“Okay, how?”

“For one, Rey’s probably annoyed half the guys in the school, but Solo is new back this year so she won’t have had chance to yet. Second, he’s probably the only one brave enough to ask her to date him and third,” He paused, “He already agreed to it.” Poe’s jaw dropped a little,

“Seriously?” 

Finn nodded proudly,

“Yeah, said he’d try to take her out, but he needs some help- she won’t even talk to him.” Finn tailed off, leaving Poe shaking his head,

“Yep. Sounds like Rey.” Poe mumbled.

“Is there anything you can tell us about her that might give him a fighting chance?” Finn felt a bead of sweat run down the back of his neck as he asked. Poe sat back in his chair, his arms casually crossed over his centre,

“Mmmm, well, she takes a lot of walks by herself- especially in the mornings, she goes down by the lake to read.” Finn started taking notes as Poe spoke, “Oh, she _loves_ the Weird Sisters, her favourite subject is potions, but she really likes Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology.” He squinted, “I guess the subjects where she doesn’t have to talk to anyone.” He scratched the back of his neck, “Is any of that useful?” Finn nodded,

“It’s enough to go on- if you think of anything else, let us know.” Finn got up and left just as Poe had opened his mouth to reply. With his tutor gone, Poe packed up early and headed down to the field to start Quidditch practice for the evening.

……………

They had arranged to meet Ben Solo during dinner, outside round the back of the school as they figured that at that time, there would barely be any students around. They were right; apart from the occasional pixie flying past, they were quite alone. Finn and Rose stood a little apart from Ben who was just leaning up against the stone of the castle,

“Can we do this quickly- I haven’t eaten yet.” Ben asked with one hand on his stomach. Rose looked terrified, like she suspected he was going to just pluck the next flying magical creature out of the air and butcher it for dinner, “I heard the house elves were serving pumpkin pie for pudding so I’d rather not miss that.” Finn nodded; Rose still looked on edge,

“Right, well. There’s a list of stuff she likes, subjects as well as musical tastes.” Finn dug in his pockets then handed Ben the list. He looked over the parchment,

“She likes the Weird Sisters?” He asked, surprised. Finn shrugged,

“Apparently?” Ben appraised the list then handed it back to Finn,

“Keep it, I’ll see how we get on from this point onward-“

“Yes, but you know Hogsmeade is a week on-“ Finn began but Ben put his hand up,

“I know alright, calm down, I’ll work something out, trust me. Just remember your side of the bargain.” Ben sauntered off back to the Great Hall; Rose watched him go, looking as though she was ready to go for her wand at a moment’s notice.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Rose said, scrunching her face a little,

“That’s the attitude.” Finn said as he rolled his eyes and walked the route Ben had just disappeared down; Rose following quickly, telling him all the ways this could start to go wrong.

………….

Morning lessons rolled around; the castle was starting to feel cooler and Rey rubbed her hands together to warm them up as she descended down towards the Potions classroom. It was the only room in the school which was permanently cold. She had considered enchanting something to act like a muggle hand-warmer, but no doubt Snoke would have that off her in a flash, as well as points off the Ravenclaw’s House Total. She couldn’t lose any points for her house. Last year each time she and Hux had encountered each other she had lost at least five house points; she’d got off lucky with Holdo at the start of the year given she’d only made her suffer detentions rather than take the few precious points Ravenclaw had amassed that day. Fortunately, he had been cut out of a lot of her classes this year; he had barely scraped their end of sixth year exams and was in a lower class than her now. It had helped the house total as well as her mood.

Rey sat down in her usual spot at the front of the room and took out her book. The rest of the class came in after her and it was only then Professor Snoke made an appearance. 

“Today we’ll be working in pairs.” Rey sighed into her cauldron. No one wanted to partner up with her, so she usually just ended up working by herself and doing twice the work; that was how it had gone last year. “Miss Katana are you deaf?” Rey looked up at Snoke dumbly,

“Pardon?” Snoke sighed,

“I said this was work in partners.” Snoke repeated and Rey furrowed her brow,

“But I always work alone.” Rey swore she could see a smirk emerging on Snoke’s face as she spoke.

“Not this time, I think Miss Kanata. These potions are complex and everyone must find a partner. No exceptions.” He explained. Rey looked completely shocked as the dark figure from the corner stood up and walked towards Rey. Of course the only other person who didn’t have a partner was Ben Solo. She swore under her breath.

This wasn’t Rey’s week. She hadn’t spoken to Ben since she’d seen him in the library; in fact, she’d made a real effort to ignore him and stay out of his way. Hux had almost faded into the background of her life and had been replaced by Ben Solo. “Solo!” Snoke snapped, gesturing to Rey’s table. Slowly, Ben complied, taking his textbooks and parchment with him. Oddly, Rey swore she saw the new kid Finn punching the air with glee as Ben moved around him. It was over in a flash and Rey didn’t have time to puzzle over it; she had bigger issues.

She made a point of looking the other way when Ben sat down. Snoke was giving out the instructions for an invisibility potion; she could hear him taking notes. Even the way his pen scratched against the parchment was annoying. Eventually Snoke stopped talking and the instructions were given for how they should prepare the ingredients. Rey grabbed the first few and started chopping. It took all of thirty seconds for Ben to break the silence,

“You know this would be easier if we talked to each other.” Ben said. Rey lifted her eyes briefly to his and gave a one shouldered shrug,

“Probably.” She was still chopping the herbs in front of her,

“You’re not afraid of me, are you?” Ben finally broached. That did get Rey’s attention.

“Why would I be afraid of you?” She asked and he looked a little uncomfortable for a fleeting moment before his smirk began,

“You’re chopping that a little violently.” Ben chirped, watching Rey’s actions, “Pixie wings should be chopped delicately- releases their properties better.” Rey scoffed,

“Like you’d know.”

“I told you I’m good at potions- I could help you-“ Rey put up her hand,

“I don’t need your help and-“ because to her he was looking too hopeful, “I don’t want to go to Hogsmeade with you either.” 

“Who says I even wanted to ask you again, sweetheart?” Ben grinned but only elicited a scowl from Rey,

“I told you to stop calling me that, Solo.” 

“All talk must be in regard to your work.” Snoke drawled from across the classroom. “Get fresh pixie wings, Miss Katana- I expect replacements for the ones you’ve ruined.” He paused, a serious look washing over his features. “I’m also not interested in whatever plans you both have; keep that mindless chatter for outside of my classroom.” Rey went bright red,

“ _We_ have no plans, nothing.” She protested and went back to chopping up her ingredients, ignoring the look Ben was giving her and the way his hand occasionally brushed over hers as he grabbed some of the things she had been preparing.

Despite their bickering, they finished the potion somehow. Snoke appraised the potion as passable, which for Rey was incredibly high praise. She packed up quickly, without wanting to speak to Ben. He tugged on the side of her robes so lightly she thought at first it had to be an accident, before she realised he was looking at her,

“I can help you catch some pixies if you want- you know, for the wings.” He offered, as the class started to filter out around them. “I should have told you really about how to handle them.” Rey huffed,

“I’m perfectly fine by myself.” She went to go, but he grabbed onto her robes again,

“Rey, I’m only trying to help. I know you’re fine on your own, but with two of us we could get it done much quicker- even you must know that.” Rey seemed like she was doing the math in her head. He was right, pixies were speedy so with two pairs of eyes to look out for one…

“Fine, but don’t expect this to be a regular event.” Pulling her robes out of her grasp, Rey left the dungeons past a flabbergasted Rose and Finn. Ben joined them and leaned his head down a little so Snoke wouldn’t overhear,

“Does catching pixies count as a date?” Ben said to the pair, not really caring for the answer.

……………

Evening fell quickly around the castle. Students were in bed early; the toll of lessons taking its toll on most. It was only as the eleventh hour struck out over the castle, the Dark Mark flew over the castle, it’s green screech eerie and striking against the starry sky.

The next morning, the students awoke to graffiti over several of the walls across Hogwarts. They all said exactly the same things, “Mudbloods beware.” 

Rey wasn’t able to stomach breakfast that morning.


	5. Catch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey go hunting for pixies, which turns out to be anything but straightforwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm massively overwhelmed by the lovely comments people have been leaving as well as those of you giving me kudos and bookmarking! Thank you so much! 
> 
> I'm also on tumblr and post when I'm updating and so forth there :D https://cosmic-merlyn.tumblr.com/

[ ](https://imgur.com/pYtAG4d)

Rey hadn’t eaten much; there’d been an announcement meant to settle them last night in all of the common rooms, reinforcing what they'd been told yesterday morning and then they’d therefore been expected to resume business as usual. Fortunately it was a Saturday so for the most part that meant homework and Quidditch; Gryffindor were playing Slytherin later that afternoon. The whole school went to the game and Rey would be no exception, though she usually found things to do like helping to man the back of the stands to make sure none of the First Years caused any problems. The first sight of her and they tended to go back to their seats.

Before she even thought about the game this afternoon, there was the small matter of catching Pixies with Ben Solo. She hadn’t slept much last night, considering if she could just sneak out of the castle without him knowing about it and get the damn wings for Snoke by herself. That plan had flown out of the window; she assumed she would be first up for breakfast but had been beaten by none other than Ben Solo who looked rather pleased with himself when he noticed she had walked in after him.

“Nice lie in?” He teased before crunching down on his toast. Rey grimaced; she had always been unable to form actual words before her first cup of tea and today was no different. She sat down at the edge of the Ravenclaw table and began serving herself. She had filled half her plate before she noticed someone sit down opposite her. Rey stared at Ben Solo.

“You can’t sit here.” She hissed. Ben looked around,

“Why? Because it’s so full?”

Rey rolled her eyes, “No, because these are the Ravenclaw benches.” 

Ben snorted,“I’m sure there aren’t actual rules about that. If there are, I’ll take the detention. It’s not like there’s anyone here to care, apart from the Bloody Baron.” He nodded overhead as the knight warped into the hall before making a sharp exit. Rey huffed and took a loud gulp of her tea, then cutting into her breakfast forcefully. She couldn’t help but feel Ben’s eyes on her, “Do you always eat this aggressively?”

“Do you always act like this much of a prat?” Rey asked, meeting his gaze. Ben was still smirking but let the matter drop. They continued breakfast in silence before pulling on their coats.

“I heard there were some pixies down by the lake.” Rey informed Ben, pushing her hands into her pockets to keep them warm as they walked over the bridge away from the castle. Her breath came out in white puffs in front of her and frost still lingered on the plants weaving around the old wood.

“Do you go there often?” Ben asked casually. Rey scrunched her face, not wanting Ben to get the wrong idea,

“No, maybe once or twice a year. Never really.” She prayed he bought it; the last thing she needed was Solo knowing about her place of respite. It was called such just for that reason. As she’d been unable to find the Room of Requirement again since running away from Hux, she had found the outdoors her only solace. That was, as long as she could slip away unnoticed.

“Oh.” Ben looked to Rey as though he was smiling, like he knew a joke she didn’t and that too infuriated her, “You should go more often- I’ve heard it’s a beautiful place.” Rey watched him for a moment, unable to really make out that expression on his features before simply nodding and then continuing on towards the lake.

Not that he’d know, but she had been here the other day. She knew the layout better than the castle at times; since last year really she had taken long walks here early in the morning, especially at the weekend. Of course she had taken walks before that, but there had been more of a need recently.

They walked in silence until they got to the lake which was unnerving. Rey had prepared herself from an endless stream of nonsense from his mouth but she was surprised. He looked like he was taking in their surroundings; enjoying it, even. Rey worried her bottom lip and then crossed her arms over her chest, trying to repel the morning chill.

“I think there should be some through the forest here.” She gestured, just before they got to the lake. “I saw some pixies recently.” Ben was watching her intently and her cheeks flushed a little,

“Thought you said you never came down this way.” Ben quizzed; Rey faltered,

“I said I don’t come down here a lot, there’s a difference, Solo.” He chuckled and shrugged; every movement he was making felt as though it was grating on her last nerve.

“Well then, let’s go and catch some pixies.”

………….

Holdo sat in her office as the seventeenth owl of the morning appeared. Parents, it seemed, were quick to react to this kind of news and several wizarding publications were also asking her for statements. The latter she had completely disregarded and the former would take time. She had no intention of releasing any of this to the press because so far, they’d done a good job at keeping it inside the school.

This was the first time the Dark Mark and the graffiti had been sighted by anyone other than staff. Recently, similar things had happened, but they had always got to them first, before any students realised what was going on. Holdo knew she had to get a grip on things, but just how she was supposed to do that was a mystery. 

They had a few students they suspected of being involved but nothing solid as of yet. Now the whole wizarding community knew and it was exactly what she had been hoping to avoid. It came with a pressure to find those involved and bring them to justice which was much easier said than done, in Holdo’s opinion. She would have to get the staff to agree to extra patrols, perhaps even enforce a curfew earlier in order to maintain order with the students. That in itself would be unpopular now the Quidditch season had begun. 

She groaned into her fifth cup of tea and began her most recent letter, assuring the parent in question that Hogwarts was safe and this was nothing to be concerned with. Holdo had often been told she would have made a good politician, with the ease she could lie and spin the truth. This event would be no different until they caught those involved.

………….

The pixies were much harder to find when you were actually looking for them. That was what Rey decided anyway. They had been walking around in circles for a good half an hour but hadn’t seen a spec of them yet. She was starting to despair, but Ben looked as upbeat as he ever had, which Rey just found annoying.

Eventually, once she felt like she was giving up hope, she heard a flutter above them, accompanied by churlish laughter which echoed through the trees. Rey pulled out her wand and pointed above her head,

“There!” She exclaimed, calling Ben to attention as he too drew his wand. The hoard of pixies moved overhead and Rey sent a stunning spell through the trees which was unfortunately dodged by all of them. Ben tried a similar spell, hitting a branch instead and then having to rush to the side to avoid it. The pixies were being particularly playful that morning, it seemed, much to Ben and Rey’s irritation.

The pixies didn’t go off, they continued to fly around the pair, occasionally grabbing their robes or tugging at Rey’s buns. “Hey!” She cried out, pushing them off her, trying to stun them again. The pixies tittered at their attempts to capture one and stunning spells continued to fire up into the trees.

What Ben and Rey couldn’t see was that their spells had started to erode one of the upper branches on one of the trees. The pixies spotted it and started jumping down on it, helping it to break off completely. At that moment, Rey lunged forwards, grabbing one of the pixies by the leg who was trying to tug at her robes, attempting to get her off balance. “Got you!” She announced happily, grabbing Ben’s attentions.

It was at that moment a loud crack sounded above them and the branch the pixies had been trying to get loose splintered off. Rey heard Ben shout her name before she felt pain then nothing.

………….

Finn walked with Rose down to the Quidditch pitch. She kept rolling her eyes at how nervous he looked,

“Are you looking forwards to seeing your _boyfriend_ in action?” She teased.

“He’s not my boyfriend. Yet anyway.” Finn huffed.

Rose snorted and waved the back of her hand. Finn tended to get like this a lot when she brought up Poe. They both knew how much was on the line at this very moment with Ben and Rey off hunting pixies together. 

“What if it just makes it worse?” Finn asked seriously, looking off towards the lake he knew Rey and Ben had set off towards. Rose shrugged unhelpfully,

“Back to the drawing board I guess.”

“Rose!”

“Well what else am I supposed to say? You can’t force these things Finn, not with the _shrew_ especially.” She snorted, “You never know, maybe they’ll come to the match hand in hand.”

“…you think so?” Finn asked. Rose didn’t have enough sarcasm left to answer her friend so she just patted him on the shoulder and headed up towards where the Hufflepuff’s would be watching today’s game. They didn’t have a standing in the match at all as their house was yet to play a game, but seeing how the result worked out today would start to affect their position and how they played going forwards. 

She sat back, watching at the ground started to fill up. Finn was messing with his robes in a nervous way as his eyes darted around the stadium. Rose, in that moment, wasn’t sure whether he was looking for Ben and Rey or Poe. Maybe both.

………….

_”Rey?”_ The voice sounded far away. Really far away. Rey groaned and was aware straight away of a sharp pain on the top and back of her head. Experimentally her fingers flexed and ground against the crunch of the leaves she was lying on. “Rey?” The voice was more urgent and she flickered her eyes open and winced as they came to finally focus on none other than Ben Solo.

She tried to dart backwards but it was then she realised he had an arm around her shoulders and kept her in place, “Hey, easy. You took a nasty bump to the head.” Rey grimaced and slowly the events before she had blacked out started to come to her.

“The pixies?” Her voice was quiet,

“Their idea of a prank. I’d imagine. The branch hit you clean on the top of the head.” The corner of his mouth twitched and for a moment, Rey thought he was trying not to laugh. “Are you okay to sit up?” His voice was considerate. Rey swallowed as she tried to move,

“Yeah, I think so.” She pushed up, while she felt slightly dizzy, the world was finally falling into place and she felt like she was coming back to herself slowly but surely. “Merlin’s beard this hurts.” Ben looked sympathetic.

“It will do, it was not exactly a small branch Rey.” He gestured off to the side where the branch now lay; a good metre in length at least. Rey wrinkled her features and then a slight panic set in.

“No, no the wings!” Snoke would have her in detentions for another week if she didn’t replenish his supply. This time when she looked back at Ben he was actually smiling as he held out several pixie wings.

“That’ll be enough to keep Snoke off your back.” He kept holding them out to her until she took them, brushing her fingers against his palm.

“Thank you, Ben.” Rey wrapped the wings up in a piece of cloth she’d brought with them and put them all in her pocket. Ben had already pushed himself to his feet and offered her his hand to help her up too. Rey brushed down the hem of her robe but got to her feet without his help, shaking her head at his offer. “I’m fine.” She insisted, despite being a little wobbly on her feet.

“You should probably get that checked out at the hospital wing-“

“No. They’ll have enough going on there this afternoon anyway.” The sound of cheers carried on the wind and Rey looked back towards the castle. “Sounds like the match already started.”

“Do you even care about the game?” Ben asked, as they began to walk back through the forest. Rey’s hands formed into fists at her side,

“Not really. Not the result, but Poe’s playing.” She explained.

“Your brother, right?” 

“Mmhmm. He plays on the Gryffindor team.” They were a good side, Rey was proud of him, even if it wasn’t her cup of tea.

“Best get back for it then.” A note had dropped in Ben’s voice and he paused, “Rey just wait.” She had picked up the pace and had been trying to get back as quickly as she could but the tone of his voice made her pause curiously. Ben reached forwards and brushed two fingers against her cheek, his thumb smoothing over her jawline, 

“Sorry, you had dirt all over the side of your face.” Ben murmured. “All gone.” 

Ben looked triumphant while Rey felt like she couldn’t breathe. She released a breath she hadn’t realised she had been holding, but she didn’t smile.

She tucked some stray hairs behind her ear, ignoring the burning sensation against the skin he’d just run his fingers over. They walked back the rest of the distance in relative silence; occasionally they heard shouts or cheers from the ground and when they reached it, Rey paused to look up at Ben.

“Thanks again, you know for the-“ She patted her pocket. Ben looked happy enough at that,

“Anytime, sweetheart.” The flush was back in her cheeks,

“I told you not to call me that-“ she was cut off by Ben’s snort,

“I think you like it.” Before she could snap back her reply, Ben took off in the opposite direction, hands in his pockets and heading up towards the Slytherin seats. Rey watched him go, a mixture of rage and curiosity pulsing through her.

Maybe she’d underestimated how much damage that knock on the head had dealt her.


	6. Tea Leaves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben has a stroke of genius and makes Rey an offer which she struggles to refuse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all the kudos, bookmarks and comments <3 I really appreciate everything!
> 
> Feel free to come geek out with me about all things Reylo or Hogwarts or anything really on my tumblr:
> 
> https://cosmic-merlyn.tumblr.com/

[](https://imgur.com/45c3jLY)

Reading tea leaves was not Rey’s favourite part of the curriculum. It was made even worse by the fact that she had once again had to pair up with Ben Solo. Rey had always just worked by herself; it had been simpler that way and she had found a good routine with it. Now, every time there was group work (which seemed to be coming up an annoying amount) in any classes she had with Solo, they ended up being paired together. At first it had been teacher intervention, now he just gathered his things and joined her table whenever it was mentioned.

At least, when reading tea leaves, it meant that she got to drink tea. Maz insisted she couldn’t put milk in it though which left it a little bitter. There were worse things. Next to her, Ben contorted his face; she snorted. If he was drinking tea then he couldn’t speak to her. Maybe she could suggest this to Maz as something which should happen more often.

Maz was floating between the different students in the room, checking on their progress and that they weren’t trying to ditch any of the tea in her pot plants. Once the tea was drained they were supposed to study the leaves which had been left behind by their partner to see what their futures had in store. Rey sucked in a breath; knowing Maz this would be on the end of year exams so she had to make an effort with it. Maz loved tea leaves; it was often a topic of conversation over breakfast. 

Fortunately because of that, from a young age, Rey had been introduced to this kind of thing. She remembered it was one of the first things Maz had taught her when she had come to live with her; they’d done a tea reading after she had finished decorating her room and putting all the furniture up with a flick of her wand. Back then, she’d promised her life would be full of adventure, love and unexpected surprises. Sat here now, Rey wondered how much of it Maz had made up.

“Have you not finished yet?” Ben’s voice cut across her memories and she just about kept her grip on her cup. She scowled at him.

“No.” She replied sharply. Ben opened his mouth but then fell silent, pretending to thumb through some information in his book until she had finished and was ready to read his tea leaves for him. Rey drank as slowly as she could, making him wait for her. 

Rey’s head still had a lump on the back of it from where the branch had hit her. She and Ben hadn’t spoken about the incident and she had no one else to mention it to so the whole thing had remained unspoken. Snoke was happy with the wings and that seemed to be the end of it. “Finished.” She then informed him and pushed her cup in his direction. 

Ben took her cup and swapped it for his own. Rey opened up on her dictionary of symbols even though she knew most of them off by heart anyway. No one growing up with Maz could have got this far without knowing the basic symbols; it wasn’t a surprise this was also one of Poe’s best classes. As Rey looked through into the cup, she was met with the slow movement of the leaves as they settled back into place. She huffed as though bored by the whole situation.

Once they were settled she could get a better look and took a sharp intake of breath. In Maz’s words, this was not a happy cup by any stretch of the imagination. If Ben sensed her change in posture and attitude, he didn’t let on and made the study of her cup as though it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

There was a line with a triangle head which looked like an arrow; it meant a sense of direction which had to be taken with caution. There were also some lines which looked a little like an attempt at a cross which had got out of hand. That in itself represented challenges, suffering and changes, usually that meant by the tea drinker or to someone they held dear. To see two symbols of negative connotations was not good; usually it was just the one or balanced out with something else. She had been so absorbed in her own cup she didn’t notice Ben had stilled next to her. “What is it?” She asked, unsure she actually wanted to know the answer. Ben held the cup out so that she could see it.

The cup held two symbols. The exact two symbols Ben’s cup had in them. 

She raised her eyes to Ben who had his finger over the meaning for the cross. Ben never had much colour in his cheeks but he had paled a little. Rey rolled her shoulders, regaining her composure as she began to write down her notes, avoiding talking about it. The symbols were not a good sign; not for either of them. She made a study of it, looking like she knew what she was doing so that Maz wouldn’t come over. Rey didn’t want to worry her or to have anything confirmed. 

Fortunately for her, the bell went soon after so she had an excuse to leave.

Unfortunately for Rey, Ben Solo was able to leave class at exactly the same time.

“Hey, wait up.” He said, his school bag ricocheting off two Gryffindor’s who looked suitably irked as they descended down the stairs. Against her better judgement, Rey slowed her pace but did not stop. Ben walked alongside her, “Are you okay?” Rey sniffed and looked as though he’d just asked her the most stupid question in the history of Hogwarts,

“I’m fine.” 

Ben was unconvinced. “Only, it’s alright not to be, it wasn’t the friendliest of predictions-“ He started, but Rey put her hand up between them,

“If you believe the predictions.” At that, Ben looked surprised,

“You mean you don’t?” She didn’t reply straight away as she didn’t have an answer for it. Did she believe everything which came up in Divination? That their prophecies were made in the blink of an eye and that each thing in a cup could tell what her future could be.

“I-I don’t know. I think that it’s a guide to the future, but it doesn’t mean that it is set in stone.” Rey said as she wrapped her arms around her middle, “Maz thinks the world of it, but she would I suppose.” 

“Well she does teach it.” Ben pointed out. That did illicit a small snort from Rey.

“You should see her rooms; if you think the classroom is bad its’ got nothing on our home.” It was incredibly small, but it was their home. They had lived in the castle for as long as Rey had been with Maz. In all that time the smaller woman had never thought to redecorate. She smiled a little but as they reached the bottom of the stairs she seemed to remember herself. “I’m heading this way.” She pointed towards the corridor leading in the direction of the Ravenclaw common room. Ben nodded,

“I’m going to the library; see you later sweetheart.”

He was gone before she could shout at him.

………….

Given the timetable and the variety of ways Rey found to occupy her time, she did not see Ben for the next few days. Not that she cared, as she told herself for the fifteenth time as she ascended the stairs to the Owlery. She had left it far too long since visiting her owl, Kira. She had been a present for her eleventh birthday from Maz; she was quite a large owl, with a white belly and long brown feathers brushing over the rest of her body. It wasn’t like she got much of an opportunity to stretch her wings; Rey had no one worth writing to outside the castle so the only exercise she got was delivering the morning papers or her subscription to Potions Monthly Magazine.

As she turned into the Owlery, she wasn’t looking where she was going and very nearly walked into a dark figure with a flash of green around his neck. Ben grabbed her shoulder to stop her just at the last moment. He smile was crooked. 

“Good morning.” He chirped. Rey’s eyes went wide and she stepped back out of his grasp.

“What are you doing here?” She sharply demanded. Ben looked around at the owls like it might be obvious but when she didn’t offer a further question he looked amused,

“Sending an owl.” He stepped towards her, “seemed like the right place to be, you know, to do that.”

Rey’s cheeks flushed and brushed past him without answering. Ben just watched her as she called Kira down from one of the perches. “Nice owl.” He commented. Rey still didn’t answer him and brushed over the owl’s feathers, trying very hard to pretend that he wasn’t there. “What’s her name?” Ben then pressed. Rey rolled her eyes,

“She’s called Kira,” before returning her attention back to the owl. Kira ruffled her feathers and settled on Rey’s arm. Rey cooed at her, her features softening; she really hadn’t been up here enough. It took for Ben to clear his throat for Rey to remember he was there in those few shared moments with her owl. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” She asked him without looking in his direction.

“Not really.” He paused and took another step in her direction, “I was coming to find you, actually.” Ben sounded a little quieter. Rey finally looked up at him.

“I’m not giving you the answers to the potions homework.” Her expression was serious and he chuckled.

“I was the one offering you help, remember.” He pointed out. Rey went back to not looking at Ben as Kira flew off her arm back onto her perch. Ben stepped up to her,

“How’s your head?” He asked, looking up at her hair.

“Fine, no thanks to you.”

“Well, if you hadn’t ruined the pixie wings…” Rey scrunched up her face,

“Whatever-“ She made to leave but Ben put his arm out, temporarily preventing her. She looked up at him with furrowed brows,

“Sorry, that’s not what I meant.” He paused, “I just wanted to check you were okay. It was a nasty bump.”

“Like I said, I’m fine. So if that’s all you wanted.” She gestured to where his arm was still stopping her from leaving.

“It’s not. I wanted to make it up to you, if you’ll let me.” The tone of his voice had changed slightly. Rey looked at Ben as though she didn’t believe a word he just said. He wasn’t deterred and took one of her hands, giving it a gentle squeeze. “One afternoon, Hogsmeade , that’s all I’m asking.” Her eyes narrowed on Ben.

“Why are you so determined?” Rey asked him, but all Ben could do was shrug,

“Taking a chance, I guess.” Rey hummed and looked down at where their hands were joined. Her gaze lingered there a few moments until she found his eyes once more. She couldn’t ignore the tingling on her skin his hand was leaving. “We could restock your potions supply, just use it for that? I saw your bag the other day. You really need to get some more frogspawn and goblin nails.” Rey chewed on her bottom lip. He was right, she did need to restock her supplies and Hogsmeade did have an excellent Apothecary. She hadn’t been to Hogsmeade in a long time; it had to be over a year. She had never gone with the others, preferring to remain in the castle while it was at it quietest. 

Rey made her decision before she could talk herself out of it.

“Fine. I do need to go to the Apothecary. You can join me if you’d like.” She let their hands remain together for a few moments before she pulled back. “I’ll be going early, though.” Ben looked as though he couldn’t believe his luck.

“Yes, yes early works for me too.” He replied. Something near to a smile pulled at Rey’s lips but she got rid of it as quick as it came. One outing to Hogsmeade ; it was barely a date, more like an outing…

“Well, I’ll see you at the gates on Saturday morning.” Rey announced and with that, she turned and started walking away shoving her hands in her pocket fiercely. Ben grinned and nodded,

“See you then, sweetheart!”

“Don’t ruin it.” She retorted over her shoulder. He considered shouting back but she had put too much distance between them and he could now just about make out a spec of blue and silver round her neck as she descended the stairs.

………….

Finn punched the air when Ben told him. Rose had squeaked in alarm at how sudden the movement was and how happy her friend sounded. Ben had just looked amused but a little irked at how much time they all seemed to be spending together now.

“So, the arrangement?” Ben asked, with an eyebrow raised. Finn dug into his pocket and dug out a coin purse,

“There’s enough in there for a date, I think?” Finn explained, Rose just rolled her eyes. Ben felt the weight of the purse.

“Seems fair. If it’s anymore I’ll make a note of it.” Ben's tone was dry but Finn didn't seem to notice,

“Just don’t start buying her diamonds or a gold encrusted cauldron; I don’t have that much money.” Finn pointed out which drew a smirk from Ben,

“There goes my first date idea.” 

“What are you doing for your first date?” Rose peeped up in a small voice. She was now more capable of uttering sentences to Ben rather than shouting things at him, usually relating to Nifflers and the different ways of eating them.

“We’ll see on Saturday. I said we’d restock her potions supply.” Ben shrugged his shoulders and ran his hand through his hair.

Rose squeaked again but seemed unable to form proper sentences.

“Very romantic.” Pointed out Finn before Rose cut him off.

“What? You need a better plan!” She exclaimed. Ben had gone to turn away and just stared at Rose,

“Why?” He queried. Rose put her head in her hands,

“Because you need a plan, dummy. You invited her, she’ll expect you to know what you want to do beyond potion shopping.”

“I’m not even sure she thinks it’s a date.” Ben admitted, gaining an appalled look from Finn,

“What, so you’re going to Hogsmeade as potion buddies?” Finn stammered.

“Well I just said that I wanted to make up the fact that it was her who took that branch to the head when we looked for Pixies-” Ben rolled his eyes at the pair in front of him. 

“I still can’t believe that happened.” Finn snorted and Ben shot him a look which shut him up as quickly as he began. “Sorry.” He muttered.

“This is my side of things, I’ll deal with it my way. I know what I’m doing.” Ben then left without another word to the pair. Rose watched him go and then turned to Finn.

“Next time pick someone less intense to do business with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Hogsmeade 'not a date' date to feature next time folks!


	7. Hogsmeade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben go to Hogsmeade together. Meanwhile, Finn gets into his own relationship problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again thank you so much for all the wonderful comments, kudos and bookmarks. You guys really are the best!
> 
> If you want to come geek out about Reylo I'm on Tumblr and put updates there too! 
> 
> https://cosmic-merlyn.tumblr.com/

[ ](https://imgur.com/yyklrHt)

Finn could barely contain his excitement as Poe sat down, “Ben’s going to take out Rey this weekend.” He practically shouted at the Gryffindor. Poe looked at Finn dumbly, until he realised the implications of what he had just been told, 

“You’re kidding?” Poe gawped. 

Finn shook his head in triumph. “Nope, Ben is taking Rey to Hogsmeade and they’re going by _themselves_.” Poe punched the air and practically launched himself at Finn,

“Finn, I could kiss you!” He exclaimed with his arms wrapped around his shoulders. Before Finn could reply, Poe was standing up again, not paying much attention to the look in his tutor’s eyes. “Can we reschedule? There’s something I need to do.” 

Finn could not keep the disappointment off his features, despite him trying,

“Oh, um sure yeah.”

Poe didn’t seem to notice and smiled, patting Finn’s shoulder, “You’re the best, Finn, seriously. I can’t believe you actually pulled this off.” Poe slung his bag back over his shoulder, “You’ve done me a massive favour, honestly.” That was the last thing he said before taking off in the opposite direction. Finn stared after him, an awful feeling gathering in the pit of his stomach.

He gathered up his things before returning to the Hufflepuff common room by himself. Rose was still up, lay across one of the armchairs with her fluffy socks hanging off the side of it as she read through her Defence Against the Dark Arts book. She looked up as Finn went to cross the common room,

“How did it go with your boyfriend?” Rose asked as Finn’s face fell, “That good, huh?”

“Well he said thank you and then just took off.” Finn muttered. Rose offered a sympathetic look, “Maybe he’s just busy?” Finn then suggested. Rose’s lips knitted tightly together,

“Mmm.” Was as good a response as she could think of as she lightly shrugged her shoulder and went back to her book. 

Finn was still stood there. 

“Rose, are you going to Hogsmeade this weekend?” Finn asked. 

Rose closed over her book, realising now that she wasn’t getting anything done given Finn was back and in this mood.

“Maybe, we can go together if you’d like? I can show you around.” Rose suggested. She hadn’t been planning to go, but if Finn wanted to then she would.

“Thanks.” He hung his head a bit then headed up to his rooms. Rose watched him go and sighed to herself. This was going to be a long week.

………….

Maz hadn’t believed Poe when he had told her Rey was dating. In fact she’d called him an outright liar and threatened to get some Veritaserum from Snoke’s potion supply to prove it. Arguing about it had given Poe a headache and he’d had resorted to taking Maz to above the courtyard was so that she could physically see below where Rey and Ben Solo met to go to Hogsmeade together. Maz had nearly dropped her cup of tea at the spectacle. She had thought that her plan had been fool proof, that Rey would never date so she wouldn’t have to face this for a few years. Poe gave her a pleading look then,

“Well, I am a woman of my word.” Poe punched the air,

“So I can go out with whoever I want?” He asked. Maz considered it all briefly but then nodded,

“I leave it to your judgement, Poe.” She went to turn away but Poe lingered,

“I’m surprised on Rey’s choice though.” He said then cleared his throat. Maz turned and looked at Poe, an unreadable expression on her features, “Well you know, with Solo’s reputation and everything.” Maz looked confused but rather than commenting on it she merely left Poe and went down the corridor back to her rooms.

Poe tore off in the opposite direction eagerly.

………….

Rey caught herself looking in the mirror for the third time that morning. She’d changed twice already, just because she wanted to be warm; that was what she had told herself. Eventually she’d settled for jeans, a jumper, her house scarf and a green coat which was one of her favourites. Her hair hung loose over her shoulders and she grabbed her satchel before taking off down the stairs of the girl’s dormitory. She’d already elicited a few comments that morning; her fellow Ravenclaw’s weren’t used to seeing her around the common room. Usually Rey was up and out early and didn’t return until later on. Having Maz in the castle had helped her with that- it meant she always had a refuge. Unable to put off the inevitable any longer, Rey took off towards the courtyard where she and Ben had arranged to meet.

She nearly walked into Ben at the entrance to the castle. He stared down at her and she took a moment to take him in; he was dressed mostly in black, only offset by his dark grey jeans; even his coat was black. His hair fell messily around the sides of his face and his cheeks were a little red from the cold air.

“Good morning.” He said, smiling at her. Rey cleared her throat,

“Morning.” ,

“Should we get going? You know, if you want to go early.” Ben inclined his head towards the exit.

“I’ve got my ingredients list ready.” Rey patted her satchel and a smile tugged at Ben’s lips and she felt a twinge in her cheeks as he looked down at her,

“Let’s go then, before all the frogspawn has been bought up.”

………….

The Apothecary had everything Rey needed. She loved shops like this; the kind where you never knew what was coming next no matter what direction you looked in. The layout of the shop looked like it had stayed the same since she had been here last, but there were all sorts of different potion ingredients; some which snarled as they walked past, others which glowed in different colours and others which made strange noises at random intervals. She loved it all.

Ben observed it all along with her, enjoying it and occasionally bringing her ingredients he knew were missing from her inventory. She accepted all of them begrudgingly. When the time came to pay, Ben put his arm out, handing her a sack of coins,

“Let me pay.” He offered in his deep, rumbling voice. The woman behind the counter made a slight, ‘aww’ noise which made Rey’s ears turn pink. 

“I’m perfectly capable of paying for myself.” Rey huffed. Ben nodded,

“I know. I guessed you had a concept of money. Call it an investment, seeing as we spend most of our time working together in potions now.” He was trying to edge her out of the way and Rey made a face.

“For now.” She muttered.

“Why, is there someone else you’d rather work with?” He didn’t sound offended, more interested. Rey didn’t rise to the bait and she could see the queue forming behind her. Ben took the initiative and placed the coin purse down in front of her on the counter before she had time to protest. The witch serving them handed back the change and Rey put all the ingredients in her satchel; fortunately it was enchanted so it could hold much more than the outer size suggested.

When they were outside, Rey rounded on Ben,

“I could have paid myself."

“I know, but it wouldn’t be a date if I didn’t pay for something for you.” He grinned as he pushed some of his hair back off his face. Rey flushed,

“Whatever.”

The main street in Hogsmeade was now full to the brim with students. The pair got a couple of odd looks. Rey was sure she could hear the word Niffler mentioned a lot as they walked past various groups of students huddled together. She was used to seeing students whisper and gossip, but nothing like this. As though sensing her discomfort, Ben leaned down,

“Let’s head out of here, go somewhere quieter.” He offered. She nodded stiffly as she felt his hand on the small of her back, guiding her towards the trail where visitors went down to reach the Shrieking Shack.

………….

Despite it only being late September, Rose was buttoned up warm with her house scarf and hat and looked at everything on the street with an awe which was slightly lost on Finn. She rolled her eyes at him,

“Cheer up, I’ll get you a Butterbeer- you’ll definitely feel better then.” Finn grumbled but nodded as Rose led him towards somewhere called the Three Broomsticks. She walked up to the counter and ordered them both a Butterbeer, before handing Finn his. “Here you go, now can you please cheer up, you were the one who still wanted to come, remember.” Finn nodded, but as they crossed over to find an empty booth they passed a loud group of students.

Finn realised right there, on the edge of the booth, was Poe.

“Hey.” Finn said, clearing his throat, pausing by the table. The group quietened and looked up between Finn and Poe. Poe looked incredibly awkward and it was only then Finn realised he had his arm around the other Gryffindor next to him.

“Who’s this, Poe?” The male student next to Poe asked.

“This is Finn, you know the transfer student? He’s helping me with some tutoring.” The group murmured a little. “What is it Finn, did I forget my textbook or something?” He was smiling but there wasn’t much warmth to his voice. Finn shook his head, words struggling to come up from his throat.

As though sensing the situation Rose reappeared at Finn’s side and tugged his arm,

“Come on, someone just got up.” Rose chirped. Finn looked like he’d just snapped back to reality.

“Oh, uh, okay. See you, Poe.” Finn waved a little too but Poe didn’t respond just nodded and went back to his conversation with the other Gryffindor crew; his arm snaking back around the guy next to him. 

Rose didn’t bother telling Finn to cheer up this time as they both took their seats. Instead, she got out her haul from Honeyduke’s and tried to think of any conversation topic which didn’t involve Poe.

………….

“Do you believe it’s haunted?” Ben asked Rey casually as they walked through the little wood away from Hogsmeade. The Shrieking Shack wasn’t quite in view yet.

“No, but I’ve never understood why it got its name.” Rey pulled a face and wrinkled her nose.

Ben chuckled and shrugged, “No, me neither.” 

As they walked, Ben was sure he could hear a murmur of voices, and then up ahead there was a small gathering of Slytherin students. In the centre there was a flash of red hair; Rey froze.

“We need to-“ She began, turning away, but they were spotted,

“Oh, nice of you to join us Rey! And you too Solo!” Hux shouted at the pair who looked at each other before letting their gaze be taken by the red haired student again. “Out on a little romantic walk?” Rey went to go towards Hux but Ben grabbed her shoulders,

“Don’t-“ he said in a warning tone,

“Listen to your _boyfriend_ Rey.” Though Hux's tone was teasing there was something underneath it which couldn’t be placed. A stronger emotion ran through, “Wouldn’t want you getting hurt now.” 

“Shut up!” Rey snapped, pulling herself out of Ben’s grasp. He watched her, cautious of the quick change in her demeanour. 

“Let’s not start something you can’t finish.” Hux said, drawing his wand. Rey drew hers too,

“I could say the same to you.” She hissed. Hux laughed, 

“Duel then. First one to disarm or disable wins.” Rey gave a curt nod at his suggestion; Ben looked appalled. The Slytherin posse Hux had around him started to laugh and jeer in Rey’s direction. Ben pulled slightly at her robes and whispered into her ear,

“This really isn’t worth it.” But she chose to ignore him, pulling her robe back from his grasp. 

“Don’t tell me what is and isn’t-“ but at that moment there was an incantation and a flash of light which struck Rey and her legs went from underneath her. Ben dove down quickly and grabbed her around the shoulders a little awkwardly but enough to help her into a sitting position, rather than crashing down onto the floor.

The students around them laughed; the loudest belonged to Hux.

“Ooops, my mistake, thought you were ready.” Hux sneered, still chortling as he pocketed his wand. Rey tried to move her legs but couldn’t. She recognised the spell; the Jelly Legs curse.

“You swine.” Rey gritted through her teeth as she tried to move, despite knowing how futile it would be. Ben was still holding her shoulders, keeping her upright. She had her wand drawn and had started firing her own spells at the group, causing a couple to flee in a panic. The spells were cast without incantation, though Ben didn’t think it was the time to appreciate it.

“Get out of here, Hux.” Ben looked up at the red haired Slytherin, hatred pulsing through him as he reached for his own wand,

“Or what, Solo? You’ll make me?” Ben, once he was happy Rey wasn’t just going to topple over, stood up to his full height with his wand drawn. The students who had gathered looked uneasy at the turn of events. Hux still kept his bravado on his face.

“Yes.” Ben’s voice was deep and carried harshly over the small clearing. The students started to scatter and another Slytherin grabbed onto Hux’s robe,

“Come on, you don’t know what he’s capable of-“ the Slyherin muttered as they all took off back towards Hogsmeade. Ben watched them go, only coming back to himself when he heard Rey swearing to herself as she tried to get back to her feet.

“Hey, easy.” Ben was back at her side. Rey pulled away from him,

“I don’t need your help.” She snapped. At that, Ben crooked an eyebrow,

“I beg to disagree; we both know that curse won’t wear off for at least another ten minutes.” Rey swore again at his appraisal of the situation. “So, I can carry you, or we can wait.” The first option looked as though it mortified her so Ben sat down beside Rey. 

“Guessing you don’t know the counter curse.” Rey asked miserably. Ben shook his head,

“My education has been somewhat… disrupted over the years.” He said, looking ahead at the fields, beyond which he knew the Shrieking Shack was. 

“So I’ve heard.” Rey commented, before getting out her wand again, “There has to be some way to speed this up.” Ben looked amused,

“Just wait. You could cause more damage trying to fix it than just waiting another nine minutes.” Rey huffed and considered the point for a moment before replacing her wand back in her pocket. “I didn’t know you could do wordless magic.” Ben said after a couple of moments. She looked surprised.

“Well, there was no reason for you to know, I suppose.” Rey reasonably pointed out. “Can you do it?” Ben snorted and shook his head,

“Disrupted education, remember? Maybe you can show me, sometime.” Her ears went a little pink again and she made a small muffled noise, not committing either way. Ben sighed, “We’ll go straight to Holdo when we get back to the castle.” Rey’s eyes widened,

“What, why?” She asked. Now Ben just looked confused,

“To report Hux? He practically attacked you Rey, she should know.” Ben started to look a little smug, “He’ll be in detentions until the Christmas exams-“

“No, no!” Rey snapped, “You can’t tell anyone. Not Holdo, not anyone Ben.” 

“What? Rey he _attacked_ you, he deserves a punishment.” Rey let her gaze fall from Ben’s, down to her useless legs, 

“I said no, Ben.” He put his head in his hands and groaned,

“You can’t be serious.” Rey gave him a look which told him that she was very serious. Ben shook his head but didn’t comment on it further. Instead, the waited until the curse had given Rey the complete use of her legs back before walking back up towards the castle, mostly in silence. 

Night had fallen by the time they walked back through the castle gates and through the courtyard. “I had a nice time today.” Ben finally volunteered as Rey had turned to leave him in the entrance to the castle. Rey looked up at him, rubbing one hand against the opposite arm as she chewed down on her lip,

“Even the bit where I got cursed and we had to sit around in the dirt.” Rey raised an eyebrow, placing a hand on her hip. Ben snorted,

“Well maybe apart from that bit.” He admitted. 

A silence fell between them. Rey tugged at her own sleeve nervously,

“Yeah, well I had a good time too.” She shrugged, “I guess.” She still wasn’t smiling, not really but Ben made up for it with his, “I’ll see you around then, whenever I need more potion ingredients.” Rey turned to leave quickly, looking over her shoulder once at him before she turned the corner towards the Ravenclaw common room.

Ben watched her go and then turned in the opposite direction to her. He wasn’t going to the common room just yet. He knew what he had to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to leave it at a cliffhanger, but what's Ben up to now??


	8. Quidditch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Hux seeks out Rey, it means trouble for Ben. Meanwhile the school is gearing up for the big game of the season between Gryffindor & Slytherin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all the kind words, kudos and bookmarks. You guys are seriously the best and make me smile so much!
> 
> As always, I'm on tumblr if you'd like updates on there or would like to just come and nerd out about Reylo <3
> 
> https://cosmic-merlyn.tumblr.com/

[](https://imgur.com/EO0n7qi)

That morning felt completely different to Rey. She woke, for what felt like the first time in years, without feeling as though she had some reason to be annoyed. It was the day after hers and Ben’s trip to Hogsmeade and despite Hux, it had been… nice to just spend time with someone and talk. It had been a long time since she’d spent any meaningful amount of her day with someone who wasn’t family. She smiled into her pillow, enjoying the warm sensation yesterday had left her with. She had enjoyed herself, though she wasn’t going to let herself get carried away on one day’s excursion. Rey knew what the other students thought of Ben, though she hadn’t seen any evidence of his dalliances with the dark arts or anything else which she knew was being whispered about. She knew she had to exercise caution, but she preferred to take people as she found them. It wasn’t her fault that others couldn’t do the same.

It being a Sunday, Rey had got up earlier than the rest of her dormitory and made her way to breakfast. On the way, there were small groups of students either heading towards the Great Hall or from it, depending on how early a riser they were. As she approached the Great Hall, Rey saw some Sixth year Slytherin’s barge past a younger Hufflepuff, causing her books to topple to the ground. As she went to pick them up, they knocked them from her hands again. 

Something turned in Rey’s gut and she drew her wand, approaching the group of laughing sixth years. “Shove off.” Rey commanded at them, standing in-between them and the Hufflepuff girl. 

The Slytherin boys looked unimpressed and the nearest one laughed,

“Should have known you _mudbloods_ would stick together.” He hissed before the group took off in the opposite direction. 

Rey’s cheeks shone a dark red but she ignored her own outrage momentarily as she helped the Hufflepuff to pick up her books and set her on her way after checking she was alright. “You don’t listen to them, you know.” Rey told her sternly, handing her a tissue for her tears, “Blood doesn’t define any of us.”

The Hufflepuff nodded, but she hadn’t really looked as though she believed Rey. However, she took the tissue and went off.

Rey had lost her appetite but knew she still had to eat something or else she would pass out half way through her Charms homework. She walked a little quicker than she would usually to the Great Hall, watching the shadows as she did.

………….

It had reached nearly midday by the time Rey had finished with her charms homework and decided to reward herself with a walk around the grounds. She had been working up in Maz’s rooms as they were much quieter than the Ravenclaw Common room or the library. It was getting a bit too cold to work outside now and so really her adoptive mother’s rooms were the only option for her.

Wrapped up in her house scarf, jeans and a thick jumper, Rey made her way outside, intending to head towards the boat house. There was a nice view of the lake as well as the side of the castle from that way. It didn’t take her long to reach the narrow pathways; few students went this way, they instead chose to go towards the side of the castle with the Quidditch pitch and the groundskeeper’s cottage.

Rey leaned up against the brick of the wall of the pathway, eyes roaming over the boathouse and the lake beyond. She loved it here; she had ever since Maz had brought her to the castle. She had loved exploring each and every corridor or pathway she could find. To a child who had been used to nothing but disappointment, this place had been a dream come true. It was like she had stepped into one of the fairy-tale books she used to steal from the school library.

Before Rey could get too caught up in the past, a flash of red made its way into her vision and she felt herself roughly jerked from her memories.

“You snitch-“ Hux had pulled Rey so that she was forced to look up at him. His hair sat wildly and he was breathing heavily through his nose.

Rey paled, “W-what are you talking about?” She asked, regaining some air of confidence as she drew back from him a little. However, the more she walked back, the more he stalked towards her until he had her against the side of the path with nowhere left for her to go.

“You know what, don’t act dumb.” Hux snarled as Rey reached into her pocket for her wand. She hadn’t seen Hux this wound up for a long time and she wasn’t about to take any chances with it. “Though I know that isn’t hard for you.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Hux.” She asserted though this did nothing to calm his temper.

“Cobwebs, utter tripe, you know exactly what I’m talking about!” The tone of his voice raised ever so slightly, but not enough to promote it from a hiss,

“I really don’t!”

Hux laughed cruelly, “So you didn’t go running straight to Holdo after you lost our duel yesterday?”

Rey’s eyes went wide at his question and she stammered as she shook her head, “No, I haven’t told anyone.”

“Well she found out somehow!” He retorted, taking a step back from Rey,

“Maybe it was one of your _friends_.” Rey suggested fairly, still holding tightly onto her wand.

Hux laughed, “They know better.” Realisation dawned over his features, “You- your boyfriend. Solo. He had to be the one.” 

At this, Rey shook her head furiously, “No, no he wouldn’t, I told him not to.” 

Hux snorted, “From what we’ve heard, when does Solo ever do what he’s told to?”

That sentence shut Rey up momentarily and she stood back. Hux was still seething, “Now I’ve got two weeks’ worth of detentions because of you and your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Rey muttered lamely, though Hux didn’t appear to hear,

“So when you see him next, give him thanks from me. Two weeks I’ve got to spend with Holdo!” He then stormed away without waiting to hear her defence, but in truth she had none. 

Rey sunk down the brick of the wall until her back was up against it with her legs stretched out front. If it was possible to make herself smaller in that moment she would have taken it. She had made Ben promise not to tell Holdo- she had specifically told him that was the last thing to do but he’d done it anyway. 

Rey tried to grapple with her feelings. Why had Ben told Holdo? Did he think he was protecting her or had it been to get one up on Hux? If Holdo knew then it would most definitely get back to Maz one way or another. Nothing stayed quiet at Hogwarts for long, especially between the teaching staff; that was one thing she had learned during her time in the castle.

Though she would have been happy to stay there for most of the night, Rey eventually drew herself up and stormed towards the castle, knowing exactly what she had to do now.

………….

Ben was halfway through his Pumpkin Pie when Rey stormed up to where he was sat.

“How could you?” Rey hissed towards him, “I told you specifically not to tell her!” A few students had turned around, showing mild interest. It was obviously a slow lunch in the Great Hall. At that point, Rey couldn’t have cared less who heard them over lunch. Her cheeks were rouge with her rage and all she could see was red. 

Ben gawped, partly choking on the pie he was quickly trying to chew, “Rey, he attacked you, I couldn’t let him get away with that-“

“It wasn’t your decision to make Ben!” She snapped back, cutting straight across him, “I specifically asked you not to do something and you ignored me.” Her words sounded very clear cut and Ben stood up, walking down the Great Hall parallel to her as she turned from him to leave.

“Rey, wait-“ they reached the exit to the Great Hall at the same time and Ben grabbed her arm. Both were ignoring the dozens of students now watching them with clear curiosity. “Just, just wait.” He stammered, “you might not agree with why I did what I did, but he attacked you.” 

Rey stared up at him and pulled her arm out of his grasp, “You shouldn’t have done it. You don’t understand.” Her voice had broken a little.

Ben was undeterred. “Then help me to understand.” 

Rey didn’t contemplate him, not for a moment and instead shook her head and walked backwards. “I don’t want to speak to you again Ben, leave me alone.” With that she turned on her heels and fled from the Great Hall, leaving Ben stood there alone with the gawping students behind him.

Among the students were Finn and Rose. Finn looked as though he had just thrown up everywhere, “That’s it, we’re done for.” He said as he let his forehead collide with the wood of the table.

Rose rolled her eyes at her friend, “I’ve seen her make worse arguments than this, dummy. I’m sure it’ll blow over.” She assured him as she helped herself to another helping of lunch.

………….

Unfortunately for Finn, Rose’s prediction didn’t come true.

It soon became clear to everyone at Hogwarts that there was something going on between Ben Solo and Rey Kanata. Whereas before the gossip about them had been purely about the pair as individuals, like Rey being the shrew and Ben Solo hunting muggles, now the gossip concerned them as a couple. Their outing in Hogsmeade had spread like wildfire around the students and now that they seemed to be fighting, it had been dubbed as a lovers tiff.

To those close enough to the pair to observe the disagreement, it could be agreed it was one to rival anyone’s. Rey had flatly refused to work with Ben in any of their classes for the last week; despite Snoke’s threats of detentions or lack of credit towards her final exams. Similarly, in Divination, she had scowled at Maz's attempts to get them to pair up and at one point had set the seat beside her alight when Maz had insisted. It had earned Rey a couple of night’s detentions but the issue had been swiftly dropped.

In amongst all of this, things seemed to be taking a turn for the worse for muggle born and pure blood relations. There had been a spate of incidents at Hogwarts regarding both, usually the latter causing problems for the former. Then, the day of the big Quidditch match between Slytherin and Gryffindor, the words, ‘Go Home Mudbloods’, had appeared on the doors of the Great Hall before breakfast painted in something which looked scarily like blood. 

That morning had been one of the few where Rey had been at breakfast. She scowled for most of the experience and left with her brother, Poe, who was heading down to the Quidditch pitch to warm up before the game. The whole school had been buzzing with the upcoming match between Slytherin and Gryffindor.

“She looked angry.” Rose pointed out as she helped herself to some bacon. 

Finn rolled his eyes, “That’s helpful!” 

“What? It’s not my fault they haven’t made up yet.”

“You said it wouldn’t last.” Finn pointed out reasonably, which just gained him a sharp slap across the top of his arm,

“I’m not a seer, Finn.”

At that moment, Ben Solo sat down in front of the pair of them. Rose looked as though she was about to fall out of her chair, “They’re out of Niffler-“ she squeaked.

Ben, who was completely used to this behaviour from Rose, promptly ignored it and looked directly at Finn, “Rey is angry with me.”

Finn rolled his eyes for a second time, “We did notice. Most of the school noticed, Solo.”

“I need to know how to stop her being so angry.”

Finn snorted, “You and the rest of us.” 

Rose set down her goblet and looked at the pair of them, “You need to do something to make it up to her. Show her you’re committed.” Rose said, as her eyes worked between Finn and Ben, “That is, if you are…?” 

Ben gave Rose a look, “How do I show her I’m committed?” He asked.

Rose shrugged, “Maybe a gesture of some kind? You’ve probably left it a bit late for a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and some roses, though.”

Silence fell between the three until Finn stood up in excitement, “Oh! I’ve got it.” He paused, “It’s a little different, but someone did it back at Illvermorny and it was the damned cutest thing- better than roses.” He leaned forwards to whisper his idea into Ben’s ear.

Ben’s face twisted as he showed how appalled he was. “I’m _not_ doing that!” 

“You got a better idea, Solo?” Finn asked, sitting back down. Ben opened his mouth but stopped, shaking his head.

This was going to be humiliating.

………….

Rey stood in stands of the Quidditch pitch as the game got underway. She wouldn’t have been here at all, but Poe had begged her to come and watch and she had been unable to say no after the tenth time of his asking. She was sure that he’d only done so at Maz’s instruction but she had got tired of him asking so had conceded, and it was only one game after all.

The stands were full to bursting with students from all houses; not just Slytherin and Gryffindor. Even the staff and some guests were up in the top tiers of the stands. Not a lot happened at Hogwarts so a bit of variety to the school day appealed to a lot of students. Rey hung back from being in the crowds of students, preferring instead to stick towards the backs of the stands where she could be by herself.

The other positive to the game being underway was she didn’t have Poe living in her shadow, which had been a habit of his recently. He’d bored her stiff on the way down towards the grounds telling her about the Gryffindor he’d dated for a week and how they’d broken up because of fundamental differences (apparently the other guy didn’t understand Poe’s love of Quidditch and his need to practice most nights). Though the conversation had taken an uncomfortable turn for Rey as Poe mentioned he had invited Hux to watch the game personally, though he had never got back to him about it. Rey couldn’t have described how relieved she was with mere words when she had looked up into the stands and found it void of any familiar specs of red.

She’d so far stayed out Hux’s way for the past few weeks; Ben’s too, as far as she was able. Rey didn’t feel like she could forgive him for what he had done. She had asked him personally not to say anything and he’d still gone ahead, without thinking of the consequences. A small part of her brain piped up, telling her that he had done it to look out for her, but she fought it down each time. She could look after herself and she would.

“There we go, ten points to Gryffindor. Now if only the seekers could get a bit of a move on and find the snitch, it is getting a bit chilly out here-“

“CONNIX!”

The Hufflepuff physically flinched under Professor Erso’s stern tone and gaze. There were snickers from the students as the commentator returned to her job,

“Fine, fine professor. But you know it is cold out here-“

“Merlin’s beard-!” Could be heard loudly as Professor Erso pulled Connix back from the microphone. The head of Gyffindor house looked like she was having another stern word with Connix up in the top stands. The spectators were left to speculate on the decisions made by the teams themselves for a few moments.

It wasn’t surprising no one noticed the dark haired student going towards the microphone before it was too late.

“Testing, testing-“ Rey froze. Students all around the stands looked upwards at the voice which was most certainly not their usual commentator, Kaydel Connix.

The source of the voice was familiar to them, though for many it was for all the wrong reasons.

“Testing- um okay.” Rey’s gut churned; she knew that voice oh too well.

“GIVE ME THAT MICROPHONE!” If Professor Erso had been annoyed earlier, it was nothing to what she looked like now as she lunged towards Ben Solo up in the stands who bravely kept his stance, both hands on the microphone.

“Rey, I just wanted to say, because it’s been hard to speak to you for the past few weeks-“ the voice coughed a little as he jumped out of the way of Erso, “I’m sorry about what I did, I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you and did something I thought you needed rather than just listening to you and what you wanted. That’s it really, just I’m sorry.” The voice paused, “Oh, this is Ben by the way.” The microphone went dead as she could see Erso grab hold of it and Ben make a quick disappearance from the Quidditch stand.

All of a sudden, Rey realised that the whole game had stopped. Both the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams had paused, as though someone had cast a charm over them. They were all looking towards where Ben had just been and where Rey was stood alone in the middle of the stands.

The Gryffindor team, including Poe looked awestruck as did the students cluttered around the stands. Rey went as red as the Gryffindor colour and she fled in amongst the whispers she could now hear, some professing how romantic it was, others expressing surprise or concern that they were together.

“Does this mean she’s not the shrew anymore?” She heard one student question as she flew down the stairs, aiming to retreat back from the stands as quickly as possible.

Rey fled towards the changing rooms but as she went to run past them, she was met by a familiar brooding figure. She froze and he did the same.

“Oh, hi.” Rey began.

“Hi.” Ben took a step closer towards her. Somewhere behind her, she could hear the whistle from pitch, signalling the game had restarted. 

“That was…that was quite something.” Rey supplied, feeling her cheeks twinge a little.

Ben quirked a smile, “Meant every word of it.” He reached out to take her hand but she shied away,

“I need to know I can trust you Ben, I need to know you won’t do anything like that again. I trusted you not to tell anyone and you still did.” 

“I wanted to help.” 

Rey groaned, “Like I said, it wasn’t your decision to make.”

“I know that now.” Ben said, offering his hand to her this time. 

Rey considered it, “Is there anything else you haven’t told me, or anything else you’ve done you think I should know?”

Ben faltered slightly but didn’t let it show. Instead he shook his head. 

“There’s an after party later you know, in the Gryffindor Common Room.” Rey said softly, squeezing Ben’s hand hopefully. As she mentioned it, Professor Erso arrived at the threshold of the changing rooms,

“Unfortunately, Solo will be unable to attend any sort of social event for some time. At this rate, he’ll be in detention until we’re getting ready to put away the Christmas decorations!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, like he was just going to get away with that ;)


	9. Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben thinks he has an evening of detention ahead of him but Rey has other plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Argh you guys are the actual best as ever! Thank you for all the wonderful support you all give me <3 It's one of the things that keeps me going with this story!
> 
> As ever, I'm on tumblr and will put updates on there as well as nerd out about Reylo!
> 
> https://cosmic-merlyn.tumblr.com/

[ ](https://imgur.com/kDyPo4w)

Holdo was sat up in her office and had her finger and thumb crossed over the bridge of her nose as she tried to work out what to do next. The left part of her office was full of complaints from parents, mainly those from muggle born families, at the lack of action which had been taken against the anti-muggle sentiments across the school. Holdo looked at the letters, knowing each would have to be answered one by one and bit by bit. However, the Prophet was looking for quotes as well. She would have to fill this void in before anything else happened at the school. There had been more graffiti than had been reported, but they’d managed to get rid of a lot of it while the students were still in bed. The Great Hall had been done by someone who had managed to time it to happen after the morning sweep of the castle but before the students came down for breakfast.

Names and leads were popping up though Holdo wasn’t sure how seriously to take some of them. Staff were now patrolling when they could and they did a sweep of the castle each morning. However, the graffiti and language seemed to be getting more extreme each time. Holdo was more concerned about what might happen if the person, or people, behind this decided to take it to the next level. 

One name which seemed to come up more than others was Ben Solo, though she hadn’t really considered him as of yet. Holdo’s expression turned at the thought. Would she have to tell Leia if she was investigating her son?

Maybe it couldn’t hurt to send her old friend an owl, ask if Ben had anything against the muggle born; ask if he’d ever said anything at home. He and Rey Kanata seemed to have enough arguments to cause a little suspicion on her part; apparently the pair had done nothing but bicker during their lessons. Rey was muggle born, was there something in it? 

Taking out her quill, she called her owl over to her desk. She began to write a note to Leia but paused half way through and instead threw the note into the fire beside her desk. No. She couldn’t worry her friend on the premise of gossip and whispers. Instead, she took out a piece of parchment to send to the Daily Prophet, explaining that they had the situation under control and there was nowhere safer than Hogwarts. They were an inclusive school and it would remain as such.

………….

Detention was boring. Ben Solo had always known that but tonight it was even worse. He had been tasked with recording the different publication dates of the books in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. There were two other students in the room too; a couple of Ravenclaws who he didn’t know.

Ben yawned into the back of his hand, earning him a look from the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Erso,

“Well, maybe next time you’ll consider your actions, mister Solo.” She said with a quirk of her eyebrow. She still hadn’t specified how long he would have to spend doing detentions but he’d thought better of asking. Earlier when he’d gone to speak she’d looked as though the vein in her forehead was about to burst. Ben figured he’d ask when she had time to calm down.

He had thought that she might have been happy given that Gryffindor had actually won against Slytherin today. Maybe it hadn’t been the overwhelming victory that, as their head of house, she might have wanted, but it was a win nonetheless. 

Ben groaned mutely as he picked up the twentieth book and started to record the details before he heard one of the Ravenclaw boys start to heave. 

“What is that smell?” The boy exclaimed, clamping his hand over his mouth and nose to try to prevent the smell permeating any further. Erso sniffed the air, as did Ben, both were met with one of the most foul smells they’d ever experienced.

At that point, the door sprung open and Rey ran into the room, with her hand clamped over her mouth, “We’ve been told to evacuate this corridor. Some first years set off some stink bombs-“ She was spluttering, her voice muffled due to the fact that her hand was over her mouth.

Erso looked furious, “You all, go to your houses, I’ll deal with this.” The students did as the professor asked, not stopping to talk until they were far out of Erso’s reach. The two Ravenclaws ran off, leaving Ben and Rey alone.

“That was good luck!” Ben exclaimed, laughing slightly as he looked back down the corridor.

Rey looked confused, “What do you mean lucky?” 

“The first years?” Ben replied, mirroring her expression.

“It wasn’t First Years you idiot.” It was Rey’s turn to laugh now; it took Ben a moment to realise before he mouthed a small ‘o’.

“You set off a stink bomb?” 

Rey shrugged, “Well I didn’t want to go to the after party by myself.”

A warm expression spread over Ben’s face that Rey hadn’t seen before. She flushed deeply before grabbing his hand, pulling him towards the Gryffindor common room. “Come on, or it’ll be over before we even get there.”

………….

The Gryffindor common room was the centre of the celebrations that night. Obviously it was heavily populated by the Gryffindor’s but then the other houses had found their way in as well. Poe had invited Rey and whoever she might have liked to bring with her. When she’d stepped through the portrait into the common room, she noticed that his Charms tutor, Finn, was also there as well as Rose, another Hufflepuff she recognised from their shared classes. Rey tugged at Ben’s hand as they walked through the thick of the celebrations and went towards the back of the main room where they could grab a Butterbeer. The party swelled around them and Rey was content for a time to let it go just like that, enjoying the time she spent in Ben’s company.

Rey had been to the common room before but not for a few years. Poe had often invited her when they’d been a bit younger. Neither had been used to not having the other around, especially in First Year, but since then, Poe had made a lot of friends in his own house and beyond. Rey had struggled a little more than he had and had found herself spending more time by herself. In around third year he’d stopped inviting her to the common room as he was always busy, but that hadn’t meant that she hadn’t stopped needing those times with him. Rey hadn’t ever known how to broach the topic with him; the divisions had only got worse as they got older.

“Hey, are you alright?” Ben asked her, nudging her side.

Rey blinked, coming back from her thoughts about the past. “Mmm, yeah.” She nodded but could see he looked unconvinced, “I’ve just not been to one of these things in a long time.”

Ben looked around at the students who were dancing to some of the loudest music he’d ever heard. No doubt Erso would be storming up here before long. They’d have to enjoy it while they could.

“Not as good as the Weird Sisters, huh?” Ben asked.

Rey looked around at Ben quickly, her mouth slightly ajar, “You know who the Weird Sisters are?”

“Of course I do.” 

Rey’s eyes drew over Ben as a smile tugged at her lips. She looked as though she was about to say something but the smile fell off her face as Poe approached her with his arm around someone who Rey felt like she never wanted to see ever again.

“Good evening, Rey.” Hux said, slipping his arm around Poe’s waist.

Rey felt like she was going to heave. “Go away.” She said, but that only earned her a look from Poe who rolled his eyes,

“Come on Rey, this is supposed to be a celebration, can’t you put your problems to one side for this one night? Hux can- I invited him and he came to celebrate this with me. I don’t want you to spoil this.” 

Rey could feel Ben squeezing her hand as a different kind of expression spread over his face, like he felt as though he had to keep grasping Rey’s hand to prevent him punching Hux (as well as Poe).

“Rey clings onto the past a bit too much I think.” Hux said with a smirk as he leaned down to Poe, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Poe nodded and gave Rey another look before turning away with Hux. A few moments passed before Ben even dared to speak.

“He’s not worth it you know.” Ben said, giving Rey’s hand a squeeze.

Rey didn’t have the words to respond but dropped his hand and walked quickly through the thick flow of students; Ben tried to keep up with her but lost sight of the direction she’d gone in all too quickly. He called out her name but she didn’t come back. He was left quite alone in the middle of the makeshift dance floor.

………….

Rose was losing patience with Finn, “Will you lighten up already? It’s a party, dummy!”

Finn just looked forlorn over towards where Hux and Poe were stood arm in arm, resting a bit too close to each other.

“How long has that even been going on?” Finn asked desperately.

Rose lifted her shoulders and huffed, “No idea why you’re asking me. Can’t be that long, you know, because of the rule.”

“My life is over.” Finn moaned and Rose grabbed his shoulders in her hands,

“Look Finn, you like this guy. You can’t give up that easily.” Finn looked unconvinced at Rose’s words but looked slightly cheered, mainly to get her off his back.

“Thanks Rose.” He said with a small smile,

“Anytime, dummy.” She looked over at the rest of the gathering in the Gryffindor common room. Technically Poe had invited them, given that Finn was tutoring him with Charms and maybe he’d needed more people to make up the numbers. Either way she was pleased to be here; she’d never got invited to anything like this before.

She was about to suggest dancing to Finn before a tall, dark figure walked towards them,

“Have either of you seen Rey?” Ben asked. 

Both the Hufflepuff’s looked startled,

“No.” They replied in unison.

“We didn’t even realise you were both here.” Finn then supplied, “Do I owe you for this… or?” 

Ben didn’t look interested in financial arrangements, 

“Tell me if you see her around.” Ben stated before leaving the pair alone.

“I hope you have enough galleons to support this evening.” Rose said, looking up to Finn who looked sick at the thought.

………….

After a good fifteen minutes of searching around the Gryffindor common room, Ben still hadn’t found Rey. He decided to speak to the only other person in the vicinity that might have any idea where she’d taken off to. So, that was the reason he found himself in front of Poe and Hux for the second time that night, unfortunately this time he interrupted them rather than the other way around.

He coughed loudly, interrupting their moment of passion, much to their irritation,

“What do you want Solo?” Hux demanded. 

Ben looked at Poe, completing ignoring Hux. “We need to talk.”

Poe snorted, “I don’t think we do, actually. We’re busy.”

“It’s about Rey.”

“What about her?” Poe asked, rolling his eyes which elicited a laugh from Hux.

Ben flexed his fingers, the urge to punch the red haired Slytherin proving too much again. “She took off; do you have any idea where she might have gone?” Ben asked hurriedly.

This time it was Hux’s turn to snort, “Sounds like Rey.”

Now Ben saw red. “Well maybe she wouldn’t have taken off if you’d considered here within whatever this is.” He snapped at the pair. Poe looked confused but it had wiped the smirk off Hux’s face, “I’m not interested in anything else, I just want to know where she might have gone.”

Poe looked doubtful but furrowed his brow, “Sometimes she likes going to the back end of the courtyard by herself, the tower that overlooks it or the boat house.” He shrugged, “Try one of those.”

Ben furrowed his brow at Poe’s casual response, “Aren’t you worried about her?” He asked, staring furiously at the Gryffindor.

Poe shrugged, “She does this enough. She’s a powerful witch, she’ll be fine.” Before turning his attention back to Hux. 

Ben caught Poe roughly by the shoulder and pulled him to the side to force him to look his way full on,

“It’s only for Rey’s sake that I’m not making a scene here. I know she wouldn’t want it.”

Hux clicked his tongue before speaking, “Now, now Solo, your reputation precedes you. From what we’ve heard you know enough dark magic in order to make good on that promise.” 

Poe pulled back away from Ben,

“I think you should leave.” Poe said firmly, waving his hand towards the portrait. Ben stormed towards it without drawing his wand; the students fled from where he tread as he left the common room, slamming the portrait hard behind him. 

When he was gone, Hux looked seriously on at Poe, “He’s dangerous Poe. I don’t think it’s a coincidence all the muggle stuff has happened since he’s been back at Hogwarts.” After he spoke he left Poe’s side, leaving him to ponder on his words as he went to get some more Pumpkin juice for the pair.

Poe wondered for a moment if Hux had a point.

………….

It had taken Ben the walk to the courtyard to calm down enough to be able to focus on the task at hand, which was speaking to Rey, if he found her. He’d already checked up the tower which overlooked the courtyard and she hadn’t been there. It was only here and then the boathouse to check before he could really start to panic.

As he stepped out, the moon bathed him in light. He took a moment to enjoy how serene and beautiful it all looked before turning his attention back to his actual purpose in being here. Ben could hear a soft noise, something that sounded like a wounded animal off to his right.

“Rey?” He called out cautiously and caught a sudden flicker of movement. Rey stepped forwards past one of the pillars,

“Ben?” She sniffed, her voice a pitch higher than it usually was, “I-I just want to be by myself. Go away.” She gulped back another sob.

Ben didn’t move.

“Can I come closer?” He asked softly, but her only response was a gentle patter of sobs as she turned back against the pillar and away from view. Ben breathed in slowly and walked until he stood in front of her. He hesitated only briefly before wrapping his arms around her. Rey stiffened at first but let herself fall into his arms, crying softly into his chest.

Ben raised his hand to cradle the back of her head, brushing his fingers over her hair as her sobs began to quieten. 

Rey pulled back out his grasp and he held his hands back a little, giving her the space. “Feel better?” He asked softly.

“Not really.” She answered honestly as she ran her hands over her face. Ben could see the tears glistening off her cheeks.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked, guiding her over to sit on the wall. 

Rey fell silent for a couple of minutes but lifted her head into the moonlight,

“I know I shouldn’t let him get to me.”

“Then why do you?” He asked gently though Rey wasn’t looking in his direction.

“No one’s ever cared this much before.” Rey said softly and took Bens hand in her own and squeezed it. Silence fell over the pair again; the hum in the air coming from the music from the Gryffindor common room. Ben was still surprised Erso hadn’t put an end to that just yet. 

When Ben looked away from the moonlight, he could see her looking up at him with glistening eyes. He barely had time to register as she pushed herself up and pressed her lips softly against his cheek. His eyes fluttered shut at the sensation, just for a moment, before she drew back.

“I’ll tell you everything, Ben.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry to leave it on a cliffhanger but otherwise this chapter would have been mega huge!
> 
> Fluff (with a sprinkling of angst) is coming :3


	10. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey finally opens up to Ben while Poe makes some decisions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh the response from you guys last chapter was absolutely amazing, thank you so much! Sorry for keeping you all on a cliffhanger but hopefully the wait was worth it!
> 
> As ever, come talk all things Reylo with me over on tumblr!
> 
> https://cosmic-merlyn.tumblr.com/

[ ](https://imgur.com/Swd4d4s)

Hux still had his arm around Poe, whispering into his ear. He had suggested getting out of the tower to somewhere more private but since Ben had stood in front of them, Poe had felt a little distracted. Even now, when Hux was caressing the top of his arm, he felt his gaze sweeping over the crowd, looking for Rey with a keen eye. He had seen Finn and Rose, other Gryffindor’s from his classes but neither Ben nor Rey in some time.

“I think I should go look for Rey.” Poe eventually conceded to Hux who looked disgusted at the thought.

“Why on earth would you want to do that?”

Poe pulled out of Hux’s grasp, “She’s my sister and she’s upset about something, I should go see her-“ 

Hux grabbed his arm before he could pull away, “Hey, we are having fun, she’s probably upset because she can’t stand seeing anyone else happy.” He smirked, “She is the _shrew_ after all.”

Poe looked to where Hux had his hand clamped around his arm and roughly pulled it away from his grasp. “I’m going to look for her.”  
Hux scoffed, “Your loss, Dameron, just don’t expect me to be here at the end of the night.”

Some of the people around them were starting to state. Poe could see Hux’s cheeks start to rouge a little and he walked through the body of students quickly, leaving the common room as abruptly as he had entered it earlier in the night. The few interested students watched him go, one laughed, another looked shocked but the rest just went back to the party.

Poe, on the other hand, went straight over to Finn and Rose. “Do either of you know where Rey went?” He asked.

Finn looked stunned, but it was Rose who answered, “No, Ben was looking for her too.”

Finn regained his composure, “You don’t think she’s in trouble?” He asked. 

Poe shook his head, “No, I just know she was upset, I want to find her.”

“Well, it can’t have helped, you know, you with Hux-“ Rose began before Finn violently elbowed her in the arm to shut her up. She made a little yelp and shoved her hand over her mouth, shaking her head.

“She just doesn’t like him, I think.” Finn supplied, drawing attention away from Rose’s reddening face.

Poe shrugged, “She’s never liked him.” He paused, “Or I only really noticed it the last year or so, she never spoke about him before then.”

“Does it matter?” Finn asked. 

Poe considered it and shook his head, “No. I should go and find her though. Thanks-“ He turned to leave but Finn put his hand on his shoulder,

“We’ll all go look for Rey. Let’s go Rose.”

Rose, whose face still resembled a tomato, mutely nodded and followed the pair out of the Gryffindor common room.

………….

The music still roared from the Gryffindor tower and Ben moved in his seat, craning his neck towards it, wondering why Holdo or Erso hadn’t yet put a stop to it. He chewed on his bottom lip and looked back to Rey, who still hadn’t spoken yet. He had not moved to nudge her or prompt her, instead now he just gave her hands a small squeeze to let her know he was here, and that she was not alone.

He noticed a small tremble in her fingers, “Are you cold?” He asked her, appraising her clothing as she had dressed for the Gryffindor common room, not the courtyard and was just wearing a simple dress.

At first Rey shook her head, but at the next tremble she nodded slightly. Without hesitation, Ben took his cape off and draped it around her shoulders.

“But now you’ll be cold.” She protested, trying to shrug it back to him but Ben was having none of it.

“I’ll be fine, Rey.” His voice had finality to it that Rey didn’t want to challenge; not in the circumstances anyway so she pulled the cape a little tighter around her shoulders so it covered most of her body. Right now, Rey was incredibly glad that Ben was much taller than she was.

After some time, she exhaled slowly, “I don’t know where to begin.” Rey admitted with glassy eyes.

“At the beginning?” Ben suggested, taking hold of her hands again.

So, she told him about her earlier life, about the fact she’d been found in a park with nothing but a blanket which she kept on her person most of the time (tonight being the exception given she was going to a party). That Maz had found her at the orphanage and introduced her to a life of magic and of how close she and Poe had been before they started at Hogwarts, from that point onwards she had been by herself, always on the edge of friendships and never really forming any.

“At first I thought it was because Maz was a teacher, and they were scared that if they were my friend I might tell on everything they did and get them into trouble.” Rey explained, “But then I saw how well Poe got on with everyone and I just couldn’t understand it. I tried so hard but the more I tried, the more I seemed to push people away.” She lapsed into silence and looked away from Ben.

“I know all about that; pushing people away.” Ben said softly, but didn’t elaborate on his own tale, “In my experience, they’re more to blame. You did nothing wrong, Rey.”

Her eyes were glassy again, “Maz kept saying it would get better, but it never did. No one in my house liked me; they’d called me names because of how scrawny I looked or mention the blanket I carried around in my satchel all the time like it was something to be ashamed of.” Rey began to chew on her bottom lip, “But then I met Hux.”

Ben stilled beside her. He grasped her hand a little tighter as though sensing her inner turmoil and silently urged her to go on now she had stepped this far already.

“He was so kind at first- I knew him already, but in our fifth year he made an effort to partner up with me, meet me in the library and he used to pop up on the walks I took by the lake to clear my head.” She sighed, “He became my one true friend, but usually only when others couldn’t see. He’d be civil to me in lessons when we worked together then after class, on our walk, laugh about the way Snoke had shouted at some of the Hufflepuffs, or tell me how smart I was and how lucky he was to have a friend like me.” She shuddered, “I didn’t like the way he spoke about others, but he was he first person in five years to even notice me, so I never called him out on it, even though I should have done.”

After this speech, Rey looked up at Ben as though she was worried this might cause him to leave and he might think better of trying to get to know her. However, his expression had only softened and he pressed a gentle kiss to the side of her forehead, lingering there a moment before drawing back.

“It wasn’t long until we started dating, but we had to do it in secret with Maz’s rule. For the appearance of it, he stopped partnering with me and treated me with the same indifference anyone else did, but it started to get worse. He was the one that started that nickname they all call me- the shrew. When I called him out on it after class he told me it was to put anyone off who might think he had feelings for me. To protect me from Maz’s rule, he said. He knew it upset me but he carried on anyway. He’d then later on call me his Rey of sunshine when we walked hand in hand through the Forbidden Forest. It was always anywhere we knew we would never be caught or seen. It upset me, but I couldn’t stop. I was so scared of just being by myself again, but I didn’t like the person I was becoming. It went on for months and it only got worse. Every time I went to class there was a new nickname to call me or some other reason to laugh at me- all instigated by Hux.”

“Then one day, I caught him on the corridor shouting awful things about a muggle born student and something inside me snapped. I saw red, I drew my wand. I had it right up to his throat and screamed at him to leave the girl alone.” She paused, “He backed off, said I was crazy- the girl had already gone. Later, he confronted me at the lake. Called me everything he could think of, which fortunately wasn’t that much. But, then when he finished he threatened to tell Maz everything- all about the sneaking around, lying to her. He said he’d tell everyone, even lie about what we’d done because no one would believe me over him. I’d never begged for anything before that but I had to, I pleaded with him not to tell Maz. I said I’d do anything. He kept saying he was going to tell her, that he’d decide when to tell her how terrible a daughter I was and how she’d have been better off leaving me at the orphanage.”

Ben’s eyes were fixed on Rey and he rubbed over her cheek where her tears had started to fall heavily.

“You don’t have to, if it’s too upsetting.” He said, holding her cheek softly,

“No, I need to finish.” She said, sniffing back, “He never told me when he’d tell Maz, just that he would tell her when he wanted to. The only thing he said was that I couldn’t tell any of the other teachers, or anyone else, what had happened, or anything else that he might decide to do to me. He told me that if I ever told anyone what he called me or when he and his gang cornered me that he would go straight to Maz in a heartbeat.”

“That’s why you didn’t want to report him?” Ben asked, his face dawning with realisation.

“That’s why I was so upset with you. I thought he would go straight to Maz and tell her about our relationship because you told Holdo about him attacking me.” 

Ben grimaced, “Rey I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise.”

She was still crying softly but shook her head, “You didn’t know- no one did.”

“…Rey, how long were you dating for?” He asked after a short pause.

“T-the whole of our fifth year. Last year I just tried to stay out of his way while he told everyone how much of a shrew I was. He knew how much he annoyed me and I think he enjoyed it; he said things just to rile me up. He usually only made a scene when he had an audience. Our spats became the gossip of the whole year group.” She paused again. “A-after a while I just went back to being alone- it was easier that way.” 

“You’re not alone.” Ben whispered softly, leaning his head atop hers as he could feel her still rocking slightly with the force of her tears. He wrapped both his arms around her and held her there until her tears began to quieten. 

Eventually, Rey moved out of Ben’s grasp just so she could look up at him. She had stopped crying but her cheeks were tear stained.

“Thank you Ben.” She said softly.

He ran a hand through her hair, “You have nothing to thank me for.” Ben said with a hint of seriousness about his tone.

Rey hummed and before Ben realised what was happening, she leaned up and closed the gap between them, pressing salty lips against his. It didn’t take Ben long to soften into the embrace as his hand came to rest on the back of her head; his thumb caressing against her soft, silk hair.

………….

It had taken some time to locate Rey, but they had taken the same advice Poe had given Ben earlier. They, however, had also stopped by to check the library first and Poe had crept into Maz’s rooms to double check Rey wasn’t there either before they went a little further through the castle grounds. His reasoning was that if Solo was already checking the other places, then some of Rey’s other haunts would be a good place to start.

However, they had yielded nothing so they had gone back to the original list; the first of which was the tower overlooking the courtyard.   
It didn’t take long for the trio to come to the conclusion that they had come to the right place. Below them, they could hear the rumbling voices of Rey and Ben. Their figures were silhouetted by the moonlight. Though they couldn’t hear what was being said, they knew that the conversation was happening at length. They all exchanged knowing glances. 

“Are you still paying him?” Poe asked in a hushed voice to Finn who shook his head,

“No, he asked for the money for Hogsmeade and that’s about it.”

“Huh.” Poe made the soft noise as he looked out at the shadows in the courtyard once again. “I still can’t believe he agreed to it.” Poe pointed out

“What, money in exchange for a date? Or the fact that it was Rey?” Finn teased. Poe nudged his side with a laugh,

“I don’t know, all of it.” Poe said. “Paying Solo to take out Rey, the fact Rey said yes and they’re still hanging out even though you’re not paying him. It’s just so odd.” Poe’s gaze fell back to the courtyard below.

Finn and Rose could only nod. It was indeed very strange. 

Silence descended with the trio until Rose cleared her throat. “We should probably be heading back. We don’t know how long they’ll be down there.” She pointed out, jerking her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the Hufflepuff common room.

“Good point.” Poe agreed and embraced Rose, then Finn, quietly, “Thanks for helping me find her guys, even if we weren’t needed in the end.”

“Anytime Poe.” Finn replied before the Gryffindor turned to leave. He paused, then took a quick step back and placed a kiss on Finn’s cheek before quickly disappearing down the corridor.

Finn looked perplexed about what had just happened and blinked rapidly. Rose could only roll her eyes and pull him in the general direction of the Hufflepuff common room as her friend replayed the moment on and on in his head.

None of them caught sight of a robed figure, behind one of the pillars, who only made to move when the trio had gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of a cliffhanger? 
> 
> Prepare for angst (again...)


	11. The Ball Pt1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey asks Ben to tell her something truthful as the Winter Ball creeps up on them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you for all your kind words and all the kudos this is getting!
> 
> I've written a little piece based on Hux/Rey's first interaction in chapter 1 based on Ben's POV - you can find it here: https://cosmic-merlyn.tumblr.com/post/179754823478/hi-merlyn-i-cant-believe-im-among-the-winners 
> 
> As well as that, I'm on tumblr so come love all things Reylo with me :D
> 
> https://cosmic-merlyn.tumblr.com/

[ ](https://imgur.com/HtImcJ5)

As it was, Erso wasn’t as harsh on Ben as she had led them to believe. After a few days she’d come to see the brighter side of what he’d done and had released him from the rest of his detentions with a clear message not to do it again. Ben had eagerly agreed. So, he was able to spend most of his nights with Rey. They would take their nights in turn between heading down to the lake hand in hand, working on some of their homework in the library or trying to sneak food from the house elves down in the kitchens.

Ben had become incredibly grateful for this- realising that Rey knew most of them on a first name basis, given she lived in the castle the whole year round and had done for many years. They had fallen into these easy habits and as time often did, it began to get away from them. The early school year days of September and October quickly turned into the longer and colder days towards the back end of the calendar year. Yet, Ben and Rey remained as close as ever, much to the relief of their classmates and teachers alike; both of whom no longer had to bear witness to the spats and arguments which had become common place between the pair.

“Tell me something truthful.” Rey said to him one day, with her arm wrapped around his as they walked down past the Quidditch pitch.

Ben looked down at her, “What do you mean, truthful?” Rey almost took his expression to be worried but she caught him with her other hand, laughing at his reaction.

“I mean something about you which is true. I’ve heard all those rumours about you across the school, about the niffler, you knowing all the dark arts spells by the time you were five.” She shrugged, “Just the usual gossip.”

Ben looked as though he relaxed but Rey didn’t press it.

“I’ve never eaten a Niffler.” He said then, scrunching his face up, “I’ve no idea where that rumour came from actually. Maybe someone saw me eating some chicken and took it for a different creature.” He shrugged; Rey was laughing and they had to pause in their walk as she was struggling to keep up with his pace given how much laughter tippled form her lips.

“But something truthful…” Ben trailed off, “Well, my mother works for the ministry.” Rey rolled her eyes,

“Something about you! I already knew that anyway.” Most of the school knew that about his mother; some said she had ambitions to be the next minister for magic.

“Fine, fine.” Ben held both his hands up in mock surrender, “I have a sweet tooth; I eat too much Pumpkin Pie and I would love it if you came to the Winter Ball with me.” He then finished with a winning grin, holding his hand out towards Rey, inviting her to take it.

Rey’s laugh was cut short and she looked at Ben in utter shock, “What did you say?” She asked him, fearful she’d misheard.

Ben stepped up to her and used his hand to brush back some hair behind her ear and placed a gentle kiss against her lips, “Will you, Rey Kanata, accompany me to the Winter Ball?”

“I don’t have a dress!” She squeaked dumbly. Now it was Ben’s turn to laugh,

“I’m sure you could get one between now and then. Honestly I wouldn’t mind if you went in jeans and a T-Shirt.” Ben pointed out and Rey flushed a deep scarlet before she flung her arms around him and returned his proposal with her own embrace.

“Of course I’ll go with you.” Rey said with a large grin matching the expression Ben was looking at her with. They continued their walk mostly in silence; Rey was considering her dress options while Ben was deep in thought elsewhere.

………….

The ball itself had been a tradition for some time at Hogwarts and was seen as a good end to the calendar year, even if the academic year continued on for some time afterwards. There were two; one at Christmas and one right at the end of the academic year in the summer; it was a tradition they had taken on from other wizarding schools but it proved popular with students who talked about nothing else for weeks before.

This year’s Winter Ball was no exception. Poe was tearing through his old things in Maz’s apartments trying to find the bow tie he’d bought last year but been unable to use. He’d wanted to wear it to match with his date but Maz had put a hole in that plan given the rule had been in place. No dating until graduation; she had been determined to stick with it. He’d been so angry he’d nearly destroyed half his room in his temper and looking at it now, Maz had done a good job at putting it all back together.

“What’s all this?” Maz asked, popping her head around his doorframe,

“Hey. I’m getting everything ready for the ball.” Poe informed her, showing her the bow tie he’d just pulled out and the dress robes he had hanging up by the side of his bed. 

Maz readjusted her glasses and took it all in.

“Are you going by yourself?” She asked calmly and Poe confidently shook his head.

“No, I have a date-“ 

At that moment, Rey appeared in the apartment and ran past the pair of them in what Poe thought suspiciously looked like heels.

“And where are _you_ going?” Maz asked after Rey who was forced back down the corridor to face the pair.

“I’m getting ready for my date.” Rey explained.

“I seem to be hearing that word a lot recently.” Maz didn’t sound impressed; Rey and Poe exchanged glances.

“Look, Rey is going out with Ben tonight, which means because of your rule I am also allowed to date because of the rule after all…” Poe said with a gentle but hopeful smile. Silence descended for a few moments until Maz cleared her throat.

“As long as you’re not going with that Hux fellow.” Maz said, looking seriously at him for a moment, “I don’t want you to, not after what he did to Rey in Hogsmeade-“

“What did he do in Hogsmeade?” Poe cut Maz off and was now staring at Rey who had gone a deep red,

“Holdo told you?” Rey looked shocked, ignoring Poe with her eyes set on Maz who shrugged,

“I hear a lot you know. You should have told me, Rey, I would have done something about it.” Maz assured her and took her hand, rubbing the back of it softly.

Rey looked uncomfortable but nodded stiffly, “I’m sorry, I just wanted to deal with it myself.”

“Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, my dear.” Maz assured, “Now you two finish off getting ready for your dates, I have some getting ready to do as well.” Humming to herself, Maz wandered off leaving Poe and Rey by themselves,

“What did he do, Rey?” Poe asked seriously. Rey tried to back away but Poe grabbed onto her wrist, “Tell me.”

“He attacked me, it was one spell, it was hardly anything-“

“Hardly anything? Rey he _attacked_ you, why didn’t you tell me before I asked him out?”

Rey had no answer and just shook her head. “I’ve got to get ready.” She mumbled. “Ben will be here soon.” 

Poe nodded, “Yeah, I’ve got to get ready too. I’ve said I’ll meet Finn in the Great Hall.” 

Rey was much happier her brother was going out with Finn now; even if he and Rose were a little strange, they were much nicer than Hux. While that wasn’t hard, it was still nice.

“I’ll see you down there.” Rey said, taking off towards her rooms to finish off getting ready.

………….

Rey felt awkward. She had never worn a dress like this before, having not attended any of the balls since her younger days at Hogwarts. Then the dresses she had worn were more like younger party dresses; this made her feel like she was much older. The dress was dark green with lace which crept up her arms. The material clung to the upper half of her body but then shimmered gracefully from her waist, only stopping just at her ankles. The material looked like it had no particular order to it and seemed to move of its own accord and shimmer with the flickering candle light.

This was one of the first times she had ever thought to wear heels so she had opted for a low heel and had been practising all week. They still felt like some kind of torture device, but one which gave her height. Next to Ben it was something she sorely needed. Her hair was back in a messy bun with a plait outlining the main structure of it. Maz had helped her with some of her hair, during which they’d had a good heart to heart. Perhaps this was the start of something new. Rey could certainly hope so.

She hummed to herself and tapped her heel against the stone as she stood outside Maz’s apartment. Ben had said he would meet her here so they could walk to the Great Hall together. It was hardly a long way but she appreciated the gesture. She felt uncharacteristically nervous tonight. It was silly, she knew. She knew Ben would be here, but with each passing moment she could hear the doubts creeping into her thoughts; what if none of this had been real, what if she had done all this just for him to abandon her? Everyone else did, what made him so different?

By the end of the next ten minutes, Rey felt slightly beside herself and she was toying with the idea of just going back inside the apartment and never coming out again. She could tutor herself, surely? But, just as she was working through that plan, Ben came around the corner, adjusting the sleeve of his midnight blue dress robes. He smiled as he caught her eyes and walked effortlessly over to her.

Ben planted a kiss on her lips before stepping back to look at her, “I’m sorry I’m late- I got held up by the crowds of students.” He looked apologetic, “You look beautiful, Rey.” He said softly, kissing her again. 

Rey leaned up into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck, “You scrub up well yourself,” She teased, leaving a trail of kisses on his cheekbone. For a moment, she swore she saw him flush. 

“Come on, let’s get to the Great Hall.” Ben said and held out his arm for her to take. Rey took it gladly and leaned up against him as they walked together.

………….

Finn looked nervous. That much Rose had appraised several times before they’d even got to the ball. He’d looked sick over breakfast, lunch, and the whole time she’d helped him get ready with his hair and tie. Apparently dress robes weren’t that popular over in Illvermorny. It had been Rose’s duty to explain to him the traditions of the ball over here and during that time he had plucked up the courage to ask Poe to the dance. Rose had got the running commentary of how this would all happen of course and how he would manage to finally ask Poe out and how wonderful this evening was. To Rose, Finn looked like he was sea sick or something; he certainly didn’t look well.

“You know he is coming, right?” Rose asked Finn with a quirked brow, as though she was on the edge of laughing. Perhaps she was, but she knew Finn would never forgive her if she laughed now.

“I know, I know.” Finn assured her, though his eyes kept dragging back towards the entrance to the Great Hall. The place itself looked amazing. The theme this year was something near between ice and moonlight. The whole sky of the Great Hall was the most picturesque starry night someone could ever imagine, while the décor around the room symbolised ice with frozen goblets which kept anyone’s drink cold indefinitely to sugary snacks on one of the other buffet tables. The whole floor shone silver, as though it had iced over, despite being as easy to walk on as it ever was. 

Rose for one had never seen anything so breath-taking. She usually attended the ball by herself or with whichever classmates invited her but she was glad to be going with Finn for a time that year. He was a good friend, despite being a bit of a dummy.

“Hux is about.” She breathed with a roll of her eyes as she pointed towards him with her goblet. 

Finn groaned and looked sick again.

“Don’t worry, he won’t ruin this night for you, Finn.” Rose assured him. Hux looked furious, despite being in dark dress robes, he looked completely uninterested in the ball which was happening around him. Rose and Finn watched him intently until he left the Great Hall altogether.

“Let’s hope not.” Finn finally replied once Hux had disappeared. 

Rose couldn’t see much point in reply so tightly nodded before she went to refill their goblets.


End file.
